633rd Security Police

We best honour our fallen soldiers by standing firm

He is considered an intelligent military officer who spent several years in the upper echelons of the Commonwealth bureaucracy, as deputy national security adviser, before returning to the army to command Australian forces under Joint Task Force 633 in the Middle East.

Some surveys show that most people want the troops brought home and news that the US is negotiating with moderate elements of the Taliban will fuel such calls.

However, the nation's two main political leaders remain firm and given that only two of the four latest casualties - Sergeant Brett Wood and special forces combat engineer Sapper Rowan Robinson - were killed in action, that bipartisan position is correct for a host of reasons.

For the officers running the war, including Campbell - who delivered moving eulogies for the latest casualties - any withdrawal at this point would be a tactical and strategic disaster. "We have the initiative," he told The Daily Telegraph in his headquarters at the Al Minhad air base east of Dubai. He said that the insurgency has been pushed outside the population centres and low-level enemy fighters were now asking the question, Why are we fighting?

"That is the product of very hard work by the Afghans and coalition forces during the last 24 months to build the Afghan security force," he said.

Campbell wants to leave the Afghan government in control of security in Oruzgan in 2014 managing what he believes will be a "remnant insurgency". His view is backed by the local Afghan commander, Brigadier-General Abdul Hamid.

Speaking from his headquarters at Camp Hero adjacent to Kandahar airfield, the hardened former mujahideen fighter believes that the insurgency is at a tipping point in Oruzgan.

"A hundred former Taliban have come over to our side in Chora in the past two months. We had three come in with weapons this week and many others are putting away their weapons," he said.

The key to any counter-insurgency operation is squeezing the enemy to the point of irrelevancy and after five years of hard work that is now happening. It has cost much, but with 3000 Afghan National Army troops trained, along with 1800 police and 2500 coalition forces, the Taliban is becoming irrelevant.

Campbell said the biggest surge during the past 12 months was not the US Marines but the 80,000 ANA soldiers and police now in action.

To keep our country and our children safe we must persevere in Afghanistan. We honour the memory of the dead by standing firm.

Press Release: SJPD Partners with Department of Homeland Security

The newly formed partnership is part of HSI's ongoing nationwide anti-gang initiative - Operation Community Shield.  Since its launch in 2005, Operation Community Shield has resulted in over 22,000 gang-related arrests across the country.  HSI Special Agent Shane Folden, who was present at the meeting, stated, "This partnership shows our collective resolve to attack and dismantle criminal street gangs that are operating in this community."  The partnership comes amidst a recent uptick in gang-related crime in San Jose, including 14 gang related homicides in 2011.  Chief Moore's announcement was well received at the Mayor's Gang Prevention Task Force Meeting.  "We are grateful for the assistance of the Federal Government in tackling our gang problem," commented Mayor Chuck Reed.  The Police Chief also acknowledged that immigration enforcement efforts are a sensitive issue for many in the community.  Chief Moore emphasized that the sole purpose of the partnership is to combat criminal street gangs in San Jose, not to conduct administrative immigration removals. The logistics of the partnership include embedding two HSI gang experts with the San Jose Police Department's Gang Investigations Unit.  The two HSI Agents will be tasked with providing investigative assistance to San Jose Police Detectives on gang-related cases.  The additional investigators will be funded by the Federal Government and will not cost the City of San Jose any money.

Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy

Redefining equality

Documents, working papers. 2005, vol. 5: Documents 10566-10615

Navigating the Legal Minefields of Private Investigations, A Career-Saving Guide for Private Investigators, Detectives, and Security Police

Yearbook of the United Nations 2005