by Zoë Pollock
J. Malcolm Garcia reports that the trash pits used by military personnel in Afghanistan could be causing illness for them and local Afghans:
"Burning plastic bags is way bad," one American officer at Tereyzai acknowledged. "I don’t know why we can’t recycle. Probably too expensive. You’d have a hard time convincing anyone to put garbage convoys on the road, where they are at additional risk of IED ambush and put an additional strain on already limited tactical resources. In other words, burning was just the easiest and cheapest thing to do in a screwed-up, throwaway country like Afghanistan.
(Photo: Marines watch a burning trash pit at Combat Outpost 7171 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on October 27, 2010, by Flickr user Balazsgardi)
The Dish 