INSHALLAH

Before I start into my story for the day, I'll introduce the picture above. This is out on the firing range with the mountains in the background. Great view and bitter, bitter cold. The drive to the top of this precipice was no picknick either. Anytime we do something "scary" in Afghanistan, we say that we'll make it, "Inshallah." Inshallah means "God willing." I was saying "Inshallah" a lot as we went up and down this hill in our vehicle.

Today was a good day. Let's see if I can set this up for you. As you know, I am located inside the KMTC, which is the Kabul Military Training Center. This is the recruiting and training facility for the entire Afghan army. It's a huge facility with a ton of new recruits being processed. It's a small city, really.

Like any large military facility, we have our share of military justice problems. Prior to the coalition involvement, the Afghan military had no real court system or means of administering a fair system of military justice. A lot of stuff had been falling through the cracks at KMTC because of our sheer size.

Today I organized a meeting with the top ANA JAG, who is a brigadier general, the ANA general in charge of KMTC, my full bird colonel, three lieutenant colonels, a major, two captains and myself. Of course, the general's office was also filled with interpreters and administrative assistants. The purpose of the meeting was to formulate a long range plan for the administration of military justice at the KMTC. It was a bit intimidating to have all of these high ranking individuals together.

I addressed the group and through the interpreter told them about our problems and how we proposed to deal with them. A very good discussion followed and it was decided that the military justice jurisdiction would be extended over the entire facility (previously it was only half covered). Moreover, we will establish our own court, complete with judges, prosecutors, defense counsel and criminal investigators.

It's hard to explain the gravity of this development. We have a very important mission here at KMTC; and that is to train the Afghan Army. Part of that training involves instilling a system of fairness and justice throughout the ANA ranks. The thought is that if we start the soldiers off right at the beginning here at KMTC, they will become conscientious soldiers and future citizens. You can't instill this type of outlook without having a military justice system. Imagine trying to motivate a soldier to fight for his country if rules within his own army aren't enforced and if infractions go unpunished.

My job will be to mentor the Afghans as they build this court system at the KMTC. Needless to say, I'm excited about this and hope that we get it underway immediately. Inshallah.