"Michelle was on the cusp of life. She was at the beginning of her career and Afghanistan was a test for her." -- War correspondent Matthew Fisher.

Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang and four Canadian soldiers were killed last December after their convoy ran over an bomb near Kandahar City. The Canadian Forces recently paid tribute to Michelle by unveiling a plaque outside the media tent where she worked at Kandahar Air Field. Prior to her arrival in Afghanistan, Michelle sought the advice of reporter Matthew Fisher, one of the most experienced war correspondents in Canada, including several tours of Afghanistan. Here's an edited transcript of the interview at Kandahar Air Field after the unveiling of the plaque.



"Michelle sought me out before going to Afghanistan and last October, we arranged a meeting in Calgary. She had a lot of questions and usual apprehensions about going to Afghanistan.

In my opinion, journalism is a very big church and it takes all kinds. Michelle was interested in medical issues and she was trying to find out what Canada is doing to help ordinary Afghans. Quite a few journalist who come here are combat centric, mostly interested in military affairs. That wasn't Michelle. She chose a different path.

I encouraged her to go to the Provincial Reconstructing team in Kandahar City because that's where much of the Canadians doing civilian work are located. Not to mention several Canadian soldiers are involved in civil affairs there.

War is capricious. My father went through World War II and came out without a scratch and he always wondered why? The same question can be asked about Michelle. She was in Afghanistan for a very short time and had this great misfortune in what was her first tour here, while many other journalists go outside the wire with no problems at all. That is a real tragedy.

Michelle's death has changed the way this war is covered by journalists. It is clear that journalists are not going "outside the wire" as much as they did before Michelle's death. Personally, I was picking my coverage spots as the war became more dangerous because of IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices).

Some media companies will not allow their reporters to go "outside the wire" and that is a change. The problem for us is that, if we do not go outside the wire more, Canadians will lose an immediacy to the war, the kind of thing that Michelle was striving for."

Sound bite: Fisher says Lang's death has changed the way the war is covered.

Full photo (Matthew McGregor)

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If there's one thing that soldiers loathe it's an IED.

It stands for Improvised Explosive Device and they're everywhere.

A bulk of the Canadian casualties suffered in the Afghanistan war are from IED's.

Without revealing any military secrets, the Taliban (or Insurgents as the military likes to call them) have become extremely creative in fabricating these deadly devices.

It's common knowledge that they like to place them underneath culverts, meaning you hold your breath every time you cross one in a vehicle.

With that in mind, travelling in Afghanistan can be painfully slow in a military convoy.

Unless the road was swept by military engineers, each convoy must stop and physically inspect almost every culvert.

A 10 kilometre journey can sometimes take hours under the hot Afghanistan sun.

One of the Taliban's favourite means of making an IED is with plastic containers similar to a Gerry can at home. Add a little wiring and a detonator from an old Russian mine and you have the deadly combination.

Word is that Iran is training the insurgents on how to make IED's, but that's just a rumour.

I did a military exercise where I had to detect five IED's spread out over 50 metres. I only found two.

The threat of suicide bombers is also preoccupying.

During my travels with the Canadian troops, I couldn't help but cringe every time our armoured personnel carrier would drive by an Afghan vehicle.

Despite the constant fear, the soldiers will tell you that, "you get used to it after a while."

A few days after my arrival at Kandahar Air Field, I was fortunate enough to hitch a ride to the Panjway District, also known as the birthplace of the Taliban located just a few kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.

First stop was Mas'um Gar or better known as MSG -- the main forward operating base in the Panjway District where Canadian tanks overlook a valley.

The Taliban used to rule here, that is until NATO troops drove them out in 2006 during Operation Medusa, but not without taking several casualties.

At the height of the fighting, all of the villagers had fled the area but have since returned and are now under the protection of the Canadians.

"There are still Taliban in the area," says Captain Mike Gough, but the situation is much better than it was a few years ago."

Although most of the gun fighting has stopped, the threat of improvised explosives devices is always there. A few days ago, a young Canadian soldier stepped on an IED while on patrol and was seriously injured.

Life on a forward operating base (FOB) can best be described as quiet and somewhat boring.

I say quiet compared to the activity at Kandahar Air Field where F-18's and helicopters dominate the sky and blast your eardrums.

On an FOB, you have time to think about home and of course, the war.

The ANA (Afghan National Army) soldiers and the Canadians live together on FOB's and the contrast between them is obvious.

The ANA and Canadian troops don't necessarily intermingle but rather keep to themselves. That is, until it's time to get down to business.

The Canadians will tell you that they take their cue from the ANA while out on patrol.

"They have extra-spider senses that we don't have," says one soldier.

"If there's an IED (improvised explosive device) in the area, they will find it first."

The Canadian soldiers will also tell you that the ANA are masters at pointing out the bad guys in this war.

"You go through a village and the ANA will point out who doesn't belong."

The ANA have also earned a reputation as being somewhat reckless in their methods of dealing with IED's.

Whereas the Canadians will stop at every inkling that an IDE might be in the area, the ANA take a different approach.

Instead of stopping to inspect and diffuse, some of the ANA will drive right over them at top speed in their armourless Jimmy's hoping they don't hit anything.

"One ANA told me that he has run over three so far," says a soldiers whose specialty is dealing with IDE's.

"He just goes so fast that they detonate behind him. Talk about lucky."