hypocritexposer
Well-known member
A very long and interesting story and pics
continued....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/kandahar-infrastructure-civil-affairs_n_819370.html
Nation Building: Roads, Laws, Cops, Jobs And The Challenges Of The Afghan Surge
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- "Take a look at this," Tom Symalla says, reaching down to yank at a piece of gravel poking out from the surface of Morghan Road. It tears loose easily, exposing bare dirt beneath the engineer's boots.
He speculates with some U.S. soldiers and another engineer on what this means about how well this one road -- out of thousands and thousands of miles of roads here -- might be paved. Single coat of gravel, or two coats?
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"That could be double," John Swanson, the convoy's other engineer, says over his shoulder.
"Well, no, that looks single," Symalla replies, snapping a photo. He's clearly frustrated. The road's contractors had agreed to lay down two coats of gravel.
Along with neighboring Helmand province, Kandahar is the current focal point of the U.S. military's ongoing surge in Afghanistan. It is also a testing ground for another side of the conflict: America's uphill battle for hearts and minds in the region through reconstruction and economic development efforts. That piece of the fight isn't getting much attention, even with U.S.-led coalition forces now in their 10th year in the country.
In many ways, the success of the surge will be linked to how many well-paved roads, honest and functioning courts, clean health clinics, open schools and steady jobs are left behind when it finally comes to an end.
There's no denying that some key roads and government structures have been spruced up. The differences between "before" and "after" photos are stunning. But it's slow going, and only one part of the U.S. efforts to build a central government in a place that's never really had one. The military and a small cadre of civilian counterparts are also trying to install a skeletal legal system here, develop a network of social-services providers like schools and clinics, and build more sophisticated intelligence-sharing and policing operations that might enable locals to take control more effectively when the Americans depart.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/kandahar-infrastructure-civil-affairs_n_819370.html