By Andrew Lubin
Special to InHomelandSecurity.com

Following the recent immigration debates arising out of Arizona and in Congress made me step back and think. "What makes someone an American?" Is it an accident of birth? Having a special skill? Or is it an attitude?

My grandparents names are listed at Ellis Island. It's no big deal, so are the names of dozens of thousands of others. They came over amongst those human waves of Europeans in the late 1800's who were coming to the New World for a chance for a better life.

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By Andrew Lubin
Special to InHomelandSecurity.com

FOB Edinborough. Placed in the northern Helmand Province desert is FOB Edinborough, or "FOB Eddi" as the Marines casually call it.

The British built this base some three years ago; they needed a secure position from which they could fire the 105mm howitzers they used to protect their troops in nearby Musa Qal'ah. The Marine Corps took it over nine months ago when Kilo Battery, 5th Bn, 10th Marines replaced the Brits; today FOB Eddi is home to Lima Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, with Capt Taylor Young commanding a three-gun section of M-777 howitzers.

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By Andrew Lubin
Special to InHomelandSecurity.com

The debate on blowing a bridge continues. One patrol reported after meeting with the locals that they told him that while a lot of good people use this bridge daily, so do a lot of bad guys. But as 1st Lieutenant Carl Quist said 'if we blow the bridge, we've put the good people to a lot of inconvenience. And if we blow one or two of the bridges, the bad guys can still use the other, and I don't have nearly enough Marines to permanently guard a bridge and still complete my missions. So we're still trying to figure it out. I think it is worth taking one out."

Continue reading "Patrol Base McElhinney # 3" »

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By Andrew Lubin
Special to InHomeland Security

While superficially 1st Platoon's mission of patrolling seems to be the same daily grind, 1st Lieutenant Carl Quist and SSGT Chris Whitman are pleased at how their relations with the locals are progressing. Every day builds on the one prior, Whitman explained, "every day of peace and stability makes the locals like us more and more."

The continuous patrols are paying off in a multitude of ways. "We've captured a lot of IED's and IED-making equipment," Quist said," from 10 - 30/lb IED's, plus fuses, plus pressure plates. We're burning up their supplies and our patrolling makes it more difficult for them to re-supply."

Continue reading "Patrol Base McElhinney # 2" »

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By Andrew Lubin
Special to InHomelandSecurity.com

Patrol Base McElhinney. It's a different fight today than the big kinetic push into Marjah back in February, but the success or failure of the 44 Marines and 31 ANA on little outposts like this one is what will ultimately enable the Marines and the Administration to move into the 'transition' phase and declare the war effort to be successful.

1st Lieutenant Carl Quist commands 1st Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Bn, 6th Marines. "We've been fortunate," he said, "in our four months in-country, we've only suffered five Marine wounded plus 1 terp, plus 3 ANA." This base is named after LCPL Matt McElhinney, wounded in a complex Taliban attack that included machine guns. They were beaten back as McElhinney was evac'd under fire.

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By Andrew Lubin
Special to InHomelandSecurity.com

The fighting up and down the Helmand River Valley is picking up in frequency, as you see on the nightly news, and "River City", where phone and internet connections are interrupted until the families of the Marine killed or wounded have been notified has been all too-common. It's not conventional fighting, but rather a combination of harassing fire and IED's; both frustrating and deadly.

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By Andrew Lubin

America is now eight years into a war in Afghanistan, and it'd be a fair statement to say that most people don't know why we're fighting, how many troops are deployed, or the ultimate goal. And in last week's New York Times came the sad article that American deaths now exceeds 1,000, so it's appropriate to focus on the war.

Continue reading "Situation Report: Afghanistan" »

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