Following the large scale Taleban attacks on Lashkar Gah in Oct 08 the coalition insisted on flying unbelievably noisy jets over the city at unsocial hours in an attempt to show force. It was ludicrous. The first time it happened it was three o clock in the morning. The noise was phenomenal and woke me, also very nearly causing me to defecate into my trousers. The impact on the generally friendly resdients of Lashkar Gah cannot possibly have been positive. As a colleague of mine said 'we might as well put white sheets over our heads and go from house to house shouting 'boo' at people.'