I have to agree with BP. The journalist will have asked about what goes on, and will have been given the answer.
Glum - the sad thing is a sizeable minority of the Herald's readership almost certainly
will be startled to learn that the Harrier chaps are being shot at.
For heaven's sake, one of the most memorable pieces of journalism during Telic was Ben Brown asking a USMC officer whether or not being shot at was dangerous.
If someone who is supposed to have a (very) vague notion of what's going on (because he's a war correspondent) comes out with tosh like that, it seems to me to be no bad thing if some newspaper readers get a surprise over their cornflakes when learning that the Taleban shoot back and that Afghanistan is a rather dangerous place to be. Better that there's some coverage, even if slightly naive in tone, than none at all?