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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan 'Rambo' stops bombers |
| 2007-03-08 |
| KABUL, Afghanistan — There is trouble outside Camp Phoenix. The American base on the dusty outskirts of Kabul has called for English translators. The problem is, the Americans have now hired their translator, and a crowd of Afghan job hunters at the camp gate is getting unruly. The U.S. soldiers are nervous. One yells obscenities and waves his gun. The crowd cowers but doesn't budge. Then, another soldier steps forward, armed only with a thick wooden staff, wrapped in peeling red tape. The name tag on his broad chest says "Rambo," and though he wears U.S. Army fatigues, he speaks in perfect Dari, ordering the crowd to leave. It reluctantly disperses. This is a normal day for Rambo, an Afghan who has stood guard here for more than four years, pledging his life to the American soldiers that rid his land of the Taliban. But on Jan. 16, Rambo's gatekeeping made him a bona fide hero. On that day, Rambo wrenched open the driver's side door of a moving car and wrestled a suicide bomber into submission before he could detonate his explosives. President Bush lauded him in a nationally televised speech several weeks ago, and before that, slightly exaggerated accounts of his feat circled through cyberspace, pleading for America to offer him citizenship or at least a medal. Where do we send the beer! |
| Posted by:Icerigger |
| #4 Stay long enough, and even the Great Satan has to grow on you. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2007-03-08 21:54 |
| #3 When the base commander starts referring to him only as "John", then you know he's in! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-03-08 21:07 |
| #2 > The kind of story we will never hear on the network news. Made the CBS web site, as well as USA Today and the Seattle Times (I'm surprised too). Of course, it will show up in the Wash. Post and NYT when hell freezes over. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-03-08 20:38 |
| #1 Sounds like a righteous man. Keep him safe and secure, and employed! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-08 17:32 |