U.S. Marines conduct a patrol with Afghan National Police. Photo by: Sgt. Earnest J. Barnes
“The question is, how can we show the Afghan population that the system of government we intend to establish will provide a greater degree of stability and prosperity than that of the Taliban?” 14 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2014
government we intend to establish will provide a greater degree of stability and prosperity than that of the Taliban? Our team conducted this mission with enthusiasm and professionalism, often forgoing our own personal safety and security in the name of mission accomplishment. After all, we understood the increased risk, accepted it, and acknowledged that in order for us to be effective, we would have to remove as many degrees of separation as possible between us and the individuals we sought
to influence. This is the precise reason the Taliban makes executing these “green on blue” attacks a priority. We believed that our efforts were collectively the key to success in Afghanistan. A visiting senior officer said that we were a model VSP for the entire country. Everyone wanted to know what it was we were doing that was so unique: how, despite our losses, we continued to make progress. We had many vulnerabilities. We hosted many shuras in our compound and began an attempt at an expansion of