thedrifter
11-20-08, 05:53 AM
MILITARY: 'Nothing won yet' in Afghanistan
By MARK WALKER - STAFF WRITER
CAMP BARBER, Afghanistan ---- Lt. Col. Rick Hall says that after more than seven months in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Corps forces "haven't won anything yet."
Hall commands about 1,100 troops who have been fighting the Taliban and criminal elements in Afghanistan's Helmand Province since May. They've also been training Afghan national police units.
While the Marines have made progress in much of the province, Hall said the way to victory in Afghanistan is similar to that in Iraq ---- convincing the population to turn away from the Taliban and the drug lords who rely on growing opium poppies to fund the insurgency.
"What we need to do is to get the people to take interest in their own future," said Hall, whose 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment troops were in the process last week of packing and heading home to the Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms. "From the first day we got here, we have focused on having an enduring effect and getting the people to buy into positive change."
Hall's unit, which has lost 20 men, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from North Carolina's Camp Lejeune were ordered to Afghanistan in the spring in what the Pentagon said would be a one-time assignment for the Marine Corps.
That changed a couple of months ago when the Defense Department announced it was sending in replacements this month to preserve the work done over the summer. The newly arriving Marines include units from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii and elsewhere.
The replacements will find more than 800 newly trained Afghan national policemen patrolling villages throughout the province, which is about the size of Vermont. They also will encounter a population embracing a growing sense that the U.S. is dedicated to their safety and economic development, he said.
That's a dramatic change from when he first arrived, Hall said. In those first weeks, he said, tribal elders and village leaders were skeptical of his offers to help.
"Why should we believe you, you're just going to leave," Hall said many told him.
By seeing his troops replaced with fresh Marines, the father of 10 children said the populace is slowly putting more faith in the U.S. commitment.
Hall said he is convinced that farmers in the region will turn away from poppy production to crops such as wheat if they have protection from the Taliban and a way to get their harvest to market.
The latter involves building roads in a country that ranks near the bottom worldwide in paved highways.
"I need $13 million to build the road that can get that done," he said.
Hall doesn't know if he will be back in Afghanistan to see that road come to fruition.
"It's been a labor of love and it's only just beginning," he said. "I wish I could be here to see it through to the end."
A couple of hours earlier, Camp Pendleton's Lance Cpl. Lyle Anderson was sitting in front of a mine-resistant vehicle cleaning gear in preparation for the trip home.
Anderson, whose transportation unit was assigned to Hall, said he believes his time here made a difference.
"They're very scared of the Taliban and families I talked to very much want us here," he said.
Anderson drives a vehicle known as a "Cougar," a large version of the mine-resistant vehicle used to move troops around the region and protect them from roadside bombs.
And that's precisely what Anderson said his vehicle did. He survived four roadside bombings, as did the men inside and the rig itself.
The only injuries during those four bombings, Anderson said, were slight concussions.
The first bombing came on July Fourth and was followed by the three others in rapid succession, he said.
The paucity of roads in the region means the Marines made their own whenever they were on a convoy mission.
The bombings happened when the convoys didn't have a helicopter to scout the land ahead. Taliban riding motorcycles would alert fighters who would place the bombs along the route the Marines were taking, he said.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By MARK WALKER - STAFF WRITER
CAMP BARBER, Afghanistan ---- Lt. Col. Rick Hall says that after more than seven months in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Corps forces "haven't won anything yet."
Hall commands about 1,100 troops who have been fighting the Taliban and criminal elements in Afghanistan's Helmand Province since May. They've also been training Afghan national police units.
While the Marines have made progress in much of the province, Hall said the way to victory in Afghanistan is similar to that in Iraq ---- convincing the population to turn away from the Taliban and the drug lords who rely on growing opium poppies to fund the insurgency.
"What we need to do is to get the people to take interest in their own future," said Hall, whose 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment troops were in the process last week of packing and heading home to the Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms. "From the first day we got here, we have focused on having an enduring effect and getting the people to buy into positive change."
Hall's unit, which has lost 20 men, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from North Carolina's Camp Lejeune were ordered to Afghanistan in the spring in what the Pentagon said would be a one-time assignment for the Marine Corps.
That changed a couple of months ago when the Defense Department announced it was sending in replacements this month to preserve the work done over the summer. The newly arriving Marines include units from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii and elsewhere.
The replacements will find more than 800 newly trained Afghan national policemen patrolling villages throughout the province, which is about the size of Vermont. They also will encounter a population embracing a growing sense that the U.S. is dedicated to their safety and economic development, he said.
That's a dramatic change from when he first arrived, Hall said. In those first weeks, he said, tribal elders and village leaders were skeptical of his offers to help.
"Why should we believe you, you're just going to leave," Hall said many told him.
By seeing his troops replaced with fresh Marines, the father of 10 children said the populace is slowly putting more faith in the U.S. commitment.
Hall said he is convinced that farmers in the region will turn away from poppy production to crops such as wheat if they have protection from the Taliban and a way to get their harvest to market.
The latter involves building roads in a country that ranks near the bottom worldwide in paved highways.
"I need $13 million to build the road that can get that done," he said.
Hall doesn't know if he will be back in Afghanistan to see that road come to fruition.
"It's been a labor of love and it's only just beginning," he said. "I wish I could be here to see it through to the end."
A couple of hours earlier, Camp Pendleton's Lance Cpl. Lyle Anderson was sitting in front of a mine-resistant vehicle cleaning gear in preparation for the trip home.
Anderson, whose transportation unit was assigned to Hall, said he believes his time here made a difference.
"They're very scared of the Taliban and families I talked to very much want us here," he said.
Anderson drives a vehicle known as a "Cougar," a large version of the mine-resistant vehicle used to move troops around the region and protect them from roadside bombs.
And that's precisely what Anderson said his vehicle did. He survived four roadside bombings, as did the men inside and the rig itself.
The only injuries during those four bombings, Anderson said, were slight concussions.
The first bombing came on July Fourth and was followed by the three others in rapid succession, he said.
The paucity of roads in the region means the Marines made their own whenever they were on a convoy mission.
The bombings happened when the convoys didn't have a helicopter to scout the land ahead. Taliban riding motorcycles would alert fighters who would place the bombs along the route the Marines were taking, he said.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie