Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Rebecca’s war dog of the week: Postcards from Helmand

By Rebecca Frankel Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent  Last week David Cameron made a surprise visit to Afghanistan — his first venture outside of Europe since becoming prime minister. Cameron met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul (pledging an addition £67m would go toward countering insurgents’ bombs), before traveling to Helmand to visit with ...

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567785_100618_afghanistan5_101973291res2.jpg

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent 

Last week David Cameron made a surprise visit to Afghanistan — his first venture outside of Europe since becoming prime minister. Cameron met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul (pledging an addition £67m would go toward countering insurgents’ bombs), before traveling to Helmand to visit with British troops stationed at Camp Bastion where he spent the night. While there Cameron made sure to stop and say hello to Espen, a bomb-sniffing dog, and his handler, Sgt. Tom Moir (both above).

STEFAN ROUSSEAU/AFP/Getty Images

A U.S. Marine dog handler waits with his dog at a company operation base in Toor Ghar in the Helmand province on Feb. 8.

PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images

Above, a U.S. Marine anti-explosives squad checks a crater after they blew up a roadside bomb uncovered by their sniffer dog, during a 48-hour operation in Marja on April 1.

MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images

A Marine offers his dog a drink of water during a 24-hour foot operation in a poppy field area in Marja on March 18.

MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images

A bomb-detection duo — handler and dog — wait for an anti-explosives squad team to arrive after this bomb-sniffing dog located a roadside bomb in a Taliban stronghold area in Marja early on April 1.

MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images

Got a story of a dog in a war zone? Please share it with us by sending it, along with any good photos, to tricks[a]cnas.org

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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