.'Be nice' policy for troops in Afghanistan pays off
CAMP PENDLETON — Lt. Col. Bill McCollough told his Marines something you might not expect to hear on an Afghanistan battlefield: “When in doubt, I want you to be nice.”
The commander of a Camp Pendleton infantry battalion said the “be nice” strategy appears to have worked in the 90,000-person Nawa District of Southern Afghanistan. His 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment was deployed there for the past seven months to oust the Taliban from of the strategically important opium poppy-growing stronghold. The 800-troop force returned home late last month.
Their success offers a preview of what military leaders want to see happen throughout the country where President Obama recently commited to sending an additional 35,000 U.S. troops, including 8,500 Marines from San Diego County.
One analyst called the Marines’ efforts in the southern Helmand Province a “petri dish” for top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
“He’s looking at this for proof of concept,” said Jeffrey Dressler, researcher at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C.
And while McCollough says he thinks the public relations and community-building efforts of his Marines were working, the question remains whether the new Afghan government will take root or if the Taliban will succeed in returning after American troops leave in 2011.
“All I know is this one place. ... But I think the same thing could be done elsewhere,” said McCollough, a 40-year-old from Minnesota’s north woods who added that he believes most of Nawa’s residents were happy the Marines had arrived, by the end.
Dressler cautioned against calling the job complete. “You just can’t jump the gun and declare success and move on,” he said. “There’s a lot more work to be done there.”
Signon San Diego
I wonder how this is different from the old PPP, I think, Be polite, be Professional, be Prepared to kill, thing they had in Iraq?
The commander of a Camp Pendleton infantry battalion said the “be nice” strategy appears to have worked in the 90,000-person Nawa District of Southern Afghanistan. His 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment was deployed there for the past seven months to oust the Taliban from of the strategically important opium poppy-growing stronghold. The 800-troop force returned home late last month.
Their success offers a preview of what military leaders want to see happen throughout the country where President Obama recently commited to sending an additional 35,000 U.S. troops, including 8,500 Marines from San Diego County.
One analyst called the Marines’ efforts in the southern Helmand Province a “petri dish” for top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
“He’s looking at this for proof of concept,” said Jeffrey Dressler, researcher at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C.
And while McCollough says he thinks the public relations and community-building efforts of his Marines were working, the question remains whether the new Afghan government will take root or if the Taliban will succeed in returning after American troops leave in 2011.
“All I know is this one place. ... But I think the same thing could be done elsewhere,” said McCollough, a 40-year-old from Minnesota’s north woods who added that he believes most of Nawa’s residents were happy the Marines had arrived, by the end.
Dressler cautioned against calling the job complete. “You just can’t jump the gun and declare success and move on,” he said. “There’s a lot more work to be done there.”
Signon San Diego
I wonder how this is different from the old PPP, I think, Be polite, be Professional, be Prepared to kill, thing they had in Iraq?
posted by madtom at 9:58 PM
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