No Worse Enemy

Frank Ledwidge – author of
Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan

“Ben Anderson has written an account of his time in Helmand that is both extremely readable and useful, in that he presents lots of the detail that usually gets lost.
No Worse Enemy
has the benefit of the author having spent his time in the country on the ground, on patrol, taking risks and always patiently listening to what was going on around him. If
you want to understand how the war in Helmand is really being fought, buy this book.”

Alex Strick van Linschoten – author of
An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban

“Compelling and brilliant ... Ben Anderson presents the reader with an extraordinary account of the tragedies in the Afghanistan war. This is a first-hand look behind the
headlines at the reality of the difficult challenges British and American infantry face in modern, bloody counterinsurgency warfare operations.”

Regulo Zapata – Green Beret Special Forces (Ret) and author of
Desperate Lands: The War on Terror Through the Eyes of a Special Forces Soldier

“
No Worse Enemy
provides the very rare first-hand account of the realities of the war in Afghanistan, a gripping narrative derived not from just one or two trips
to large forward operating bases, but from multiple embeds with a variety of different units in the most austere reaches of Afghanistan’s restive Helmand Province. The book provides a candid
and honest insight into what is really happening on the ground, an invaluable perspective for both military practitioners, as well as those who have never set foot on a battlefield but who want to
know the real story. A great addition to the books out there on Afghanistan.”

Ed Darack – author of
Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers

A Oneworld Book

Published by Oneworld Publications 2011
This ebook edition published in 2012

Copyright © Ben Anderson 2011

The moral right of Ben Anderson to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved
Copyright under Berne Convention
A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library

ISBN 978–1–85168–852–4 (Hardback)
ISBN 978–1–85168–857–9 (Paperback Travel Edition)
ISBN 978–1–85168–863–0 (Ebook)

Typeset by Jayvee, Trivandrum, India
Cover design by BoldandNoble.com

Oneworld Publications
185 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7AR
England

For Nanny Butch, who endured more bombs than I ever will, and despite weighing less than a jockey, even helped the anti-aircraft guns shoot back. She was the toughest, but
most humble, person I’ve ever known. I’ll remember her, and the example she quietly set, forever.

Maps

Prologue

Introduction

A note on translations

PART I: THE BRITISH ARMY, JUNE TO OCTOBER, 2007 QUEEN’S COMPANY, THE GRENADIER GUARDS

PART II: US MARINE CORPS, JULY TO AUGUST, 2009 2ND BATTALION, 8TH MARINES

PART III: US MARINE CORPS, FEBRUARY TO MARCH, 2010 1ST BATTALION, 6TH MARINES

PART IV: US MARINE CORPS, JUNE 2010 1ST BATTALION, 6TH MARINES

PART V: US MARINE CORPS, DECEMBER 2010 TO JANUARY 2011, 3RD BATTALION, 5TH MARINES

Afterword

Recommended further reading

Acknowledgements

Index

Helmand Province

Operation Mushtaraq (Marjah)

The Sniper Hole (Marjah)