alt="Reporter Toby Harnden with his Brain Bag" width="150" height="196" />
Toby Harnden, reporter for
target="_blank">The Daily Telegraph, sent us a picture of him with
his Brain Bag in Najaf, Iraq, and wrote us this letter:
“Here is a picture of me in Najaf last week using one of your Brain
Bags with Brain Cell inside. I am a reporter with the Daily Telegraph of
London and was in the holy city covering the battle between American
forces and the Mahdi Army.
The bag contained my Toshiba laptop, camera,
satellite phone, tape recorder, water, BGAN satellite receiver and a
multitude of other things. Along with an Indian reporter, an American
photographer and two Iraqi translators, I had just spent 12 hours
sheltering in an abandoned house next to Najaf’s Old City as the battle
raged around us.
An Abrams tank had been posted right outside the door,
blasting away. With the rattle of .50 calibre machine gun fire, 25mm
rounds from Bradley fighting vehicles and the whistle of mortars from
the Mahdi, sleep was not easy that night. We had intended to get to the
Imam Ali Shrine and stay there for the night but the sniper fire was too
intense.
At one point I was sheltering behind a wall, rucksack on back,
as a sniper’s bullets slammed into the other side. I have had the
rucksack for a few months now and it’s been under fire more than once. I
find it superb – I can fit all the kit in it that I would possibly need
and a couple of Snake Charmers help me keep all the wires well
organised.”
