A lull in the conflict

This week, I have been busy trying to work out what to do with everything that we have found in our most recent series of missions.

One of the many problems that you are faced with as an ordinance disposal team is the following: What do you do with the hundreds of explosives you have gathered, stored and now uneasily have in your possession?

It is not a responsibility that any of us relish, but one that we must take on.

Back to the front

WE are actually on our way back out to the front. I am writing this column from the passenger seat of our vehicle.

When we reach our destination, we will perform controlled detonations on some of the ordnance we have unearthed over the last few weeks.

Some of what we find cannot be moved because of its volatility. It would simply be too dangerous to attempt to extract it from where it lies. If this is the case, the area around us needs to be made aware of what is going on.

The area is cleared, a safety cordon is drawn around it, and we blow the item up where it was found. Obviously, this is delicate work, and safety is what ultimately shapes our every move.

To help us help us reduce the risk to the minimum possible, I have gotten the National Police involved.

They assist us in safe disposals and have pledged to continue to do so.

The pit

HOWEVER, we are usually able to remove and transport most of the deadly items we find.

To protect the environment, which is often urban and populated, we move the majority of explosives to a pit.

That is where we are heading now.

Using controlled explosions, we will render hundreds of deadly items harmless.

A lull in the conflict

FOR some inexplicable reason, there is a big lull in the conflict.

Neither I, nor anybody else around here, seems to fully understand why.

New weapons have been acquired and shipments of equipment have arrived. However, there appears to be no haste to put them into action.

Still, while the Ukrainians seem to be in no panic to deploy their recently obtained weapons, they have been preparing many new soldiers in the past couple of months.

An axis of evil

CHINA is a catalyst in all this.

They are meddling politically and militarily. Their army has been provoking both Taiwan and the United States. As I said before, this, as far as I am concerned, is an axis of evil.

We, the West, empowered China. They have grabbed that power, and I have no doubt that they will stab us in the back if they get the chance.

However, while they have millions of soldiers, their military equipment is not up to western standards.

But, unfortunately for us, they have no qualms about stealing patented ideas from western countries, and developing them to make their own technologies.

I do not trust them, and I think we should be extremely wary of China.