The Political Conundrum!

Article by Cpl. James M. Mercure

Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose

HELMAND PROVINCE, Sangin, Afghanistan – When the Marines here are not busy fighting against insurgents, they are spending countless hours patrolling with the Afghan National Police (ANP) to make it better at effecting change within its own community.

The latter has turned out to be a full-time job for the Marines of Company E, Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan, as they find themselves constantly engaged in firefights against a relentless enemy.

Echo Marines are indeed in a serious fight – one they are committed to winning.

“Everytime the Taliban engages in direct contact with Echo Company Marines, we make sure they pay a heavy price,” said 1st Lt. Brandon J. Schroder, executive officer and Sunnyvale, Calif., native. “We take the fight to them instead of waiting for it to come to us.”

Throughout its deployment, Echo Company has been responsible for conducting full spectrum operations in a vast area of the Helmand Province. Daily operations include counterinsurgency operations with a focus on police mentoring of the Afghan National Police. Although the focus of effort remains centered on helping the Afghan people and strengthening the ANP, increased attacks have resulted in more security patrols as the Marines remain vigilant against a dangerous foe.

“Task Force 2/7 has a lot of challenges, but the one that is tied most to the others is the enormous size of our area of operations… more than 28,000 square kilometers, or about the size of Vermont,” said Lt. Col. Rick Hall, TF 2/7 commanding officer and Mankato, Minn., native. “How do we overcome this challenge? My answer is simple, Marines. We have delegated a tremendous amount of responsibility down to the squad leader level, and these very young Marines and sailors have proven themselves time and time again. I am continually amazed and always impressed by what they are doing.”

As the Marines carry out their duties, they find themselves combating enemy forces in an unfamiliar territory. Located in one of Afghanistan’s most remote and austere areas, the company must conduct patrols in a vast, dry and desolate area where the enemy doesn’t play by the rules. In fact, the combat losses suffered have mostly resulted from Marines being killed or wounded by IEDs (improvised explosive devices) the enemy uses to harm Marines working with the country’s police.

While Echo Company has surely left its mark here in Afghanistan with its combat prowess, the Marines are equally proud of the significant strides they have made in training the ANP. As more policemen are trained and serving within their own communities, Echo Marines are confident they will overcome the Taliban threat.

“When we first got here the fighting was really bad, but it’s starting to level off,” 1st Lt. Schroder explained. “The Afghan National Army and the ANP are really coming into their own, both in combat and with day-to-day operations. The training programs we have in place are producing quality policemen. The ANP may be in its infancy, but it is continually moving in the right direction.”

Since it deployed to Afghanistan in early April, Task Force 2/7 has achieved a significant milestone in bringing peace and prosperity to the Afghan people through various civil military operations projects and by laying down the groundwork necessary for follow-on U.S. forces to expand on the progress made throughout the Helmand and Farah provinces.

“Bottom line, we want to give the Afghan people liberty,” LtCol. Hall said. “We want to create a safe and prosperous environment where the people willingly accept the newly-trained and respectable Afghan National Police as a legitimate form of local governance, and to create the conditions where the people take responsibility for providing their own future.”

Sent to Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom, TF 2/7 has conducted full spectrum operations, including counterinsurgency with a focus on police training and mentoring, in order to set the conditions for the successful integration and future assumption of authority by the ANP and to extend the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan authority and influence over security, stability and regional development.

*Photos and captions below*

Pakistani officials warned Gen. David Petraeus on Monday that frequent missile strikes on militant targets in Pakistan fan anti-American sentiment in an Islamic country vital to the struggle against terrorism.

Pakistani officials warned Gen. David Petraeus on Monday that frequent missile strikes on militant targets in Pakistan fan anti-American sentiment in an Islamic country vital to the struggle against terrorism.

An aide to Osama bin Laden who refused to defend himself at his Guantanamo war crimes trial was convicted of three terrorism-related charges and faced sentencing Monday that could bring life in prison.

Hundreds of Iranian children bused in for the occasion crowded outside the former U.S. Embassy on Monday, burning American flags and chanting slogans to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the building's seizure by militant students.

Hundreds of Iranian children bused in for the occasion crowded outside the former U.S. Embassy on Monday, burning American flags and chanting slogans to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the building's seizure by militant students.

Retired Marine Col. John Ripley, who was credited with stopping a column of North Vietnamese tanks by blowing up a pair of bridges during the 1972 Easter Offensive of the Vietnam War, died at home at age 69, friends and relatives said Sunday.

The Army has kicked out a soldier for beating a Jewish trainee who complained about religious harassment in their basic training unit, a spokesman said Monday.

The Army has kicked out a soldier for beating a Jewish trainee who complained about religious harassment in their basic training unit, a spokesman said Monday.

One of the significant challenges the next administration will face in combating terrorism is the fracturing consensus on international sanctions, as noted by the Washington Post.

There is no doubt the European and U.N. consensus that gave rise to the valuable tools has softened, if not vanished, in recent years. Much of friction has to do with anti-US sentiment, coupled with the inability or unwillingness of the designating parties to use what evidence there is against designated individuals in a judicial process.

The collapse of the sanctions regime would deprive the international community of the easiest way to have a direct and lasting impact on those suspected, at a reasonable level (and that is the tricky part) of funding terrorism. But the initial construct was never intended to be a permanent fix.

Rather, it was designed to give nations and international organizations a breathing space to create a permanent mechanism that was gave more room for due process and other concerns. This did not happen, and the sanctions committees at the UN and elsewhere have become less and less effective. My colleague Victor Comras, quoted in the Post piece, was on one of the most effective committees that was later downgraded because it made too many countries uncomfortable by naming names.

But as the New York Times Magazine piece on the innovative work of Stuart Levy and others at the Treasury Department makes clear, there are other, and perhaps better options. My full blog is here.