To your fallen comrade, salute!!

Tonight I attended my third ramp ceremony. A ramp ceremony is held when a soldier has died. All the allied forces gather on the airfield as the coffin is carried down the runway, to be loaded on the plane home. Tonight the ramp ceremony was for Private Robert Costall, a Canadian soldier who died in a battle with the Taliban last night. In that same battle, 13 Taliban were killed, although I imagine this will be of little consolation to Private Costall's family.

I have little doubt I'll be attending more of these ramp ceremonies during my stay in Afghanistan, both for our own troops and those of our allies, although I hope they will be few and far between. While standing out on the brightly lit airfield tarmac, I couldn't help but wonder, "Are the Taliban watching us right now? Are they lining up their rockets or mortars to take us out? Are there allied patrols out there attempting to protect us while we stand here?" They are sobering thoughts.

I'm trying my best to maintain an impassive, professional attitude towards this enemy, but it isn't easy. I am told Islam is a religion of peace. I want to believe that. I want to believe that the Taliban have perverted their religion, and that the Taliban are to Islam what the Ku Klux Klan and Pat Robertson are to Christianity: aberrations.