The conquest of the Afghans continues....

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Oct 11 2011) – The Khowst Provincial Reconstruction Team conducted follow-up inspections on three projects in Gorbuz district Sept. 27, and Shamal district Oct. 8.

The projects were completed earlier in the year by the PRT working alongside the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in order to benefit the Afghan people.

“All three projects across both districts are fully functional and well constructed,” said Al VanGuilder, an engineer attached to Khowst PRT from Duluth, Minn.

The first project, two deep wells in the Gorbuz District, provides more than 200 villagers with fresh water. The wells ensure local citizens have water in the dry, desert-like conditions their village endures.

“I’m happy for the two pumps,” said Zarda Khan, a local villager.

The second project, four wells in the Shamal District, serves more than 1,000 Afghans spread over four villages. Two of the wells are near schools and one is close to a bazaar, providing high-traffic areas with fresh water.

A third project, a 25-meter retaining wall in a wadi below a Gorbuz village, helps prevent flooding while controlling irrigation. Without the wall, the wadi would cut into the cliff the village is built on, undermining it and possibly causing it to collapse, destroying homes and property.

“The wall was designed to protect the land affected by annual flooding,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Wayne Stephens, a PRT engineer and a native of Kingston, Jamaica. “It diverts the water and allows the villagers to increase field and crop production.”
Local citizens were extremely happy with the retaining wall and the effect it has on the village.

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KUNAR, Afghanistan (June 12, 2011) – The Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Marawara District government held a ceremony to commemorate the opening of the Loy Bachi School at the Marawara District Center in the Marawara District of Afghanistan, June 9.
The school was a two-year PRT project that cost $248,098 and can hold up to 300 students.
U.S. Navy Lt. David Pfaefflin, an engineer with the PRT and officer in charge of the school project, of Gales Ferry, Conn., said the school will be a good resource for the region.
“I’m glad it’s done, because none of the kids in that area had a place to go to school,” Pfaefflin said. “This school can house up to 300 students, so it will be a good resource for that village. That village is in a tough region, where the insurgents have a lot of influence. Education is going to be part of the key to generating peace in there.”
Marawara District Gov. Qazi Habibul Rahman thanked the PRT and the United States for the school and said he hoped the school would help make his district a safer and better place.
“We are very grateful to the PRT Team and the engineers and the USA with the help they provided with the budget and the funds for this new school,” said Rahman. “They sacrifice themselves and their soldiers for our safety. We are all seeking for our kids, a safer and a better place to live. Hopefully this school will be the key to the new generation to bring peace to our area.”

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KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan (August 6, 2011) — Khowst Province citizens seeking medical attention have a brand-new facility in Khowst City to support them.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan-led project, with guidance from Khowst Provincial Reconstruction Team members, finished construction on the largest hospital in the province July 30.
“We’re all very enthusiastic for this hospital,” said Dr. Hedayatullah Hamidi, Khowst minister of public health. “It’s the best hospital facility in the entire region.”
The Khowst Provincial Hospital houses 150 beds, 10 emergency rooms, 10 surgery rooms and four wards, two each for male and female patients, said Hamidi.
It also includes specialized areas for optometry, physical therapy, dentistry, training, casting and an obstetrics and gynecology center with eight incubators.

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PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan (July 19, 2011) — Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team civil engineers met with Afghan site supervisors to conduct a quality assurance check on the Showat Village basic health clinic July 12.
The meeting was a part of the PRT’s ongoing partnership with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to assess development projects sponsored by GIRoA.
The village of Showat is a medically under-served area, as it lies in the mountainous region of Paktya Province, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Tyler Johnson, Paktya PRT civil engineer from San Antonio.
Access to health care is a large problem in the region; the closest health facility to Showat Village is more than two hours walking distance, he added.
“We hope to solve the health problems by having a clinic at our area,” Haji Lajar, Showat Village elder, said.
The standard health clinic will see 30 to 50 patients daily and deliver 20 to 30 babies monthly.

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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (January 10, 2012) — Marine engineers with 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) have nearly completed two major route construction and improvement projects in Helmand province.
As of Jan. 3, elements of the Okinawa, Japan-based 9th Engineer Support Battalion completed the road surfacing phases of Routes Red and 611, which each provide north and south passage on their respective sides of the Helmand River. Additional measures are now being put into place over the course of the next month to ensure their permanence, while also marking total project completion.
“We’ll continue minor improvements along both routes, including culvert emplacements,” said Capt. Christopher Kaprielian, a native of San Mateo, Calif., and operations officer for 9th ESB.
The installation of culverts, Kaprielian explained, will allow for proper drainage of rain water, thus preventing the roadways from simply washing away.
Work on the routes began last year with 9th ESB’s predecessors, the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 7th ESB, which completed nearly half of the work before going home in late November.

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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (December 10, 2011) — Because of traditions and cultural beliefs, many women in Afghanistan are left behind when it comes to medical treatment. Most Afghan doctors are males, and women are rarely seen by them. Instead, they are frequently left to tend to their health the only way they know how: by wives’ tales passed down from their families.
A unique program was developed by coalition special operations forces to encourage the education of women and midwives: the Female Treatment Team.
The mission of the FTT was to train women as midwives for their villages and enable them to turn around and properly train others. A vast majority of the medical knowledge the Afghan women have is passed from one generation to the next, so the team made it their mission to teach the women the necessity of basic medical treatment. The FTT also stressed the importance of sending people to the hospital when they needed additional medical support, especially when delivering a baby.
“Our mission was to have female medical providers go out into the villages and train the local village women, uneducated women, on basic health care, like treating a fever or recognizing different illnesses,” said an FTT officer in charge. “We teach the women to know if they can treat them in the villages or if they need to take them to the hospital

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FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan (December 28, 2011) — With 53 little, smiling faces in attendance, members of Female Engagement Team 8 joined Afghan National Security Force troops recently to host a children’s shura aboard the base in Sangin district, Helmand province.
During the shura, which is a formal Afghan meeting, the children were taught various lessons and given the opportunity to vocalize any concerns they had of their communities.
In attendance to lead the shura were five Afghan troops, a local teacher, the ministry of justice and FET-8.
The Afghans talked with the children about the importance of not planting poppy or placing improvised explosive devices in the roads. They explained the role of ANSF troops in Sangin to protect them and prevent illegal activities. They also discussed why it is important to become good members of their society and gave them classes on the alphabet and counting numbers.
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BAGHLAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan (November 27, 2011) — All across Afghanistan, on a daily basis, soldiers and other members of coalition forces are making a difference in the lives of the Afghan populace.
In northern Afghanistan, three female soldiers assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, had their opportunity to make a difference by teaching local Afghan women important skills they could use to improve their daily lives.
The soldiers conducted medical seminars with Afghan females near the town of Tapagurghan Nov. 16-20.
The seminars mainly focused on the topics of basic anatomy and physiology, reproductive health, child illnesses and basic first aid, according to Capt. Lynn Gower, a flight physician assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Task Force Guns, 1st ACB, originally from Sublimity, Ore.
Gower continued, saying the training was essential and worthwhile.
“For whatever reason, they never learned these basic skills,” added Gower. “Now, as a result of this training, they know how to tackle common illnesses that affect women and young children.”

When will it stop?

Too bad folks only focus on the negative because people are risking their lives everyday to make things better for the people in the war torn nations.

In lots of cases simply accepting what the PRTs are there to offer gets you a Taliban death warrant. Sad...but hey everyone knows the US military is just a bunch of warmongers who (*)(*)(*)(*) on Afghans.

 

Fantastic! Devastate a country, bomb the living crap out of its population and infrastructure, and then claim credit for digging a well or two? Unbelievable! Americans really must be that stupid that they see this as something altruistic.

 

The Taliban devastated the country ,well before we invaded it. Why not do just a little research before exposing the entire forum to your biased ignorance.

This effort is widespread ,these recent offerings are just a miniscule collection of examples from an effort that been going on for years and years.

Why not save your hatred for the Taliban, who kill the vast majority of the Afghans civilians who die? Who brought the nation to its knees well before 911? Who willfully harbored terrorists?

Misplaced blamed is a specialty of folks like yourself...hypocrites who talk about the injustices of the world while simulatneously letting terrorists off the hook in your fits of,to quote an earlier critic, blind hatred.

 

Their country, their business. Not yours or mine.

 

What the Taliban did was to establish law and order, stop the rapes and hi-jacking, and stop opium production.

 

We left those issues to the UN before 911, then it all became our business.

 

Yeah, we noticed. Now you've lost the battle it's surely time for a chest-beating, flag-waving victory parade, isn't it? Oh, and don't forget to add some 'we gave them the gift of democracy' seasoning, would ya? Where's Mr. 'Mission Accomplished' when you need him most?

 

Oh my lord.

They imposed THEIR law on everyone,at the end of the sword (or AK47)...which is prehistoric and quite frankly unwanted by the people,then and now.

And are you implying the Taliban were some kind of womens rights advocates in the 90s?

Opium is a fickle thing with the Taliban....promoted to be against their strict version of Sharia law,they clamped down with a murderous,heavy hand to restrict its cultivation and propagation for sure in the 90's, but when they needed it to replenish their dwindling financial assets, it was OK again to move it. Hypocrites as well as murderers.

 

lol..lost the battle.

Just like Iraq...I think youre stuck in 1996.

 

And how does America impose its version of the law in the foreign nations it invades-with bullet-point presentations? (No pun intended)

 

You've lost in Afghanistan, just as every attempted occupier has done since time immemorial. You also lost in Vietnam, and yet some poor deluded fools are still talking about that as 'a tactical withdrawal'! Still, enjoy the illusion and keep counting the body-bags.

 

Destroyed historical pieces (the buddha statues), forbid women from from doing everything except breathe and allowed Al-Queda to use the country as a base of operations, including a staging point for a series of terrorist attacks that killed 3000 Americans in one day.

 

Al Qaeda on the Ropes: One Fighter’s Inside Story

Jan 2, 2012 12:00 AM EST

A young jihadist returns to his former unit on the Afghan border and finds only the desperate remnants of bin Laden’s once-dreaded organization

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newswe...-on-the-ropes-one-fighter-s-inside-story.html

 

The only one here in denial is you.

The good the US has done isnt an illusion, its tangible...your fables of failure and losses are just that, scary bed time stories.

 

You mean the version of letting the people choose their leaders and laws?

Instead of maniuplating a holy text and assassinating those who dont follow?

I dont recall folks being held at gunpoint to vote. I do remember folks being murdered for voting by the Taleban tho.

 

How they choose to run their country is none of America's bloody business. I use 'bloody' advisedly.

 

It is the USs business when the nonstate actors running the country allow indicted terrorists safe haven and training after attacking the US.

Like I said until 911 the Taliban were tolerated to a certain degree,sanctioned but not on the verge of being forcefully dislodged.

Their really bad decision making brought that on.

 

Indeed. The last thing anybody suffering under the US jackboot wants, least of all, Pashtun goat herders, is to be regarded - to use Kipling's phraseology - a "white man's burden".

 

Question for Mr. Relevant; why didn't America attack and invade Saudi Arabia which supplied the 9/11 bombers?

 

Because this bunch of Wahibbist obscurantist religious fundamentalists are allies of the christian fundamentalists.

 

That wasn't his point. It's not that the Afghanistan invasion was done out of altruism. You would have to be stupid to believe that.

However, we have done some good for them. That's the point he's getting at.

As much as people demonize our influence and actions, we're not all bad.

When people start acting like we are, that's where we understandably call people out by providing things like the OP.

 

Thanks Obama.....

 

Our alliance with Saudi Arabia is mostly about oil and really nothing about religion.

A lot of Americans (religious or otherwise) would love to stop trading with Saudi Arabia.

 

Lol. The international community whines about the destruction of inanimate objects yet disregards the deaths of thousands of Afghanistanis caused by their sanctions. Pathetic!

 

Stupid British have blood on their hands and think they have the moral authority to lecture Americans. How absurd.