The Dust of Uruzgan
Channel: ANU TV
Date: 2016-09-07

With the problems of fragile and conflict affected states increasingly impossible to ignore, the international community has learned from experience that our interventions need to be well calibrated to the political and tribal dynamics on the ground to have any chance of succeeding. In conversation with John Blaxland, Fred Smith offers reflections from two years working as a diplomat and political officer on the frontline of Australia’s mission in Afghanistan, recently distilled into his fascinating memoir, The Dust of Uruzgan.

Fred Smith served for two years as a diplomat in southern Afghanistan, working alongside Australian soldiers in Uruzgan Province. His job was to engage with local leaders and to comprehend the complex web of tribal and patronage networks that really made things tick. He came to see the province through Afghan eyes, as well as those of the soldiers he worked with.

Working on the Multinational Base in Tarin Kowt, as well is from a forward Operating Base in the Chora Valley, Fred’s second career as a musician came to the fore. His guitar served as a bridge, not only to the troops, but also to the people and tribal leaders of that war-torn region. He returned to record the acclaimed album Dust of Uruzgan, described in the SMH as: “remarkably honest and suitably ambivalent about the nature of war… a collection of songs that offers an intimate perspective on the war in Afghanistan.” The album earned him comparisons to the great Australian songwriters Eric Bogle, John Schumann and Don Walker. The title track was recorded by Lee Kernaghan on his bestselling Spirit of the ANZACs album.

Now, with Australian forces out of Uruzgan, Fred has written a book – The Dust of Uruzgan - the first comprehensive on-the-ground account of Australia’s involvement there. Part memoir, part history, part eyewitness reportage, it offers a sympathetic explanation of an obscure and impoverished province where tribal leaders conspire against one another in a society devastated by thirty-five years of warfare.

Image Copyright: Commonwealth of Australia