30 June
30 Jun 07: Oh well, I suppose my feeble attempts at keeping this blog updated have failed. I guess I need to recap the last month and half. The Afghan government (IROA) has challenged its provincial governors to develop Provincial Development Plans that will tie into the national strategy. Our two Provinces (Parwan and Kapisa) were the first Provinces to attempt this. Our PRT was an integral part of the governments planning. The UN and USAID were also key to the efforts. After these very important meetings we were saddened by the loss of a local woman who owned a private radio station. She was a key leader in the Parwan province and a staunch supporter of the Coalition forces. She was assassinated in her home while sleeping with her young children. Her husband who was at the radio station is now left to raise six kids. Her loss hit us hard since we had just met with her a few weeks prior. Her leadership was significant enough to warrant a statement from First Lady Laura Bush. Our Brigade Command met with the Governor and issued a joint statement condemning her murder. We then departed on our most dangerous mission to date. We facilitated a meeting between the village elders and Shurahs and the Governor in an area where the Taliban was extremely active. Our Brigade Commander and the Governor spoke to the Afghan leaders assuring them that only when the Taliban were no longer supported could we begin to give them projects and other development they wanted. It was eerie to sit in a room with Afghans that were certainly Taliban. We were not engaged by the enemy, but with the firepower we brought they would have been annihilated. Our PRT performed another medical engagement, treating several hundred Afghans. We worked side by side with Afghan doctors and medical staff in an Afghan hospital. We also opened new roads in our area, connecting Districts and increasing the Afghan’s capacity to further develop their economy. Every project, every school, road, well, clinic, bridge is all aimed at one single objective….strengthening the self-sufficiency fo the IROA.