Corruption is still a major enemy
http://story.afghanistansun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c/id/487761/cs/1/
Click that link and read that article to see how today in 2009 we are still fighting corruption as a major enemy and obstacle to achieving goals in Afghanistan. Granted we have been there since 2001 and embedded with the Army since 2002, but we have only been mentoring the police since 2007. Prior to TF Phoenix being made to embed with the police, we usually fought the police in battle. Yes, they were our enemy and it was not uncommon for us to kill them. Then one day a General or two decided we would not embed with out “friends”.
We are only two years into mentoring them and it is going slow. Anyone who reads this blog regularly or has in the past knows that I consider corruption one of the 3 main reasons why we are struggling in Afghanistan. The problems listed in this article “stealing of fuel”, “taking of bribes” still happens in the Afghanistan army and we have been trying to stop that (at varying degrees) since 2002, without major success.
This is one of the reasons why ETTs/PMTs are burned out by the time their tour comes to an end. This is why they have little patience for anything and why many feel hopeless at the end of their tour. I routinely tell new or about to deploy ETTs that the single trait they need to posses more than anything else is patience. They will need more than the human psyche can posses.
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