A Commentary And A Perspective On the Building Process In Afghanistan

U.S. Marines communicate with their command operation center during a raid on a Taliban headquarters in Afghanistan on Aug. 1, 2008. The Marines are from Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. DoD photo by Sgt. Freddy G. Cantu, U.S. Marine Corps. (Released)

Uphill Climb -- Daily Gazette

A steady stream of difficult news continues to come out of Afghanistan - stories about the resurgent Taliban and ongoing terrorist threats, the inadequacies of the Karzai government and corruption, casualty rates including civilian deaths caused by the enemy and from both alleged and verified coalition actions.

All of these realities swirl about those of us serving in Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, and after almost six months of "boots on the ground," sometimes we wonder if we are making a difference.

Unlike the other task forces in the coalition that are pursuing the enemy or providing security, this team is here to train the Afghans so they can secure their own nation. Our task force is basically comprised of trainers and mentors for the Army and Police and others who are here to support and secure those trainers and mentors.

Our teams are distributed all around Afghanistan and co-located with Afghan units and police. And the reality is that even though our total task force numbers almost 9,500 military, coalition partners and civilian professionals, we are some 2,300 mentors short of requirements to properly support the growing Afghan forces.

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My Comment: There is a lot of meat in this article. He compares Afghanistan and New York .... and the differences and challenges are overwhelming.