Australian Soldiers in Afghanistan

Trooper Jason Brown

The supply lines are open to Pakistan and the end of the harvest season means that there are more agricultural workers willing to pick up guns for the Taliban. Summer months are fighting months in Afghanistan and another Australian soldier was killed today, Jason Brown, 29, a member of the Perth-based Special Service Regiment. That brings the total number of deaths to 18. But before you jump to the conclusion that it's about time we brought our boys home you may be surprised to learn that they don't want to come - they want to stay and finish the job.

Captain Clare O'Neill is a construction engineer and has been to Afghanistan twice, her first patrol was in 2006 to Tarin Kowt. "There were bullet holes and blood stains, deserted streets and no economic activity" she said. Escorted by Special Forces soldiers, O'Neill found her way to the Tarin Kowt hospital. The walls were made from mud bricks and the roof had caved in. Being a woman, she was the first foreigner to be allowed into the women's quarters. The head nurse pleaded for baby packs, oil and clothing to encourage the women to attend. When O'Neill arranged for the baby packs to be distributed to the mothers, they started to come and a beginning was made.

She went back in 2008 and was pleasantly surprised at the change. She saw lights everywhere in sharp contrast to the pitch black night broken only by rocket fire and flares two years before. By day she saw a "bustling Asian marketplace, cars and jingle trucks, flags and police and even women walking unaccompanied in the streets".

And then there's the enemy's secret weapon - the IEDs (improvised explosive devices). The current fighting season is the worst for Australia and the coalition but our boys have a definite view of the Taliban - they believe their presence is having a positive affect and they are slowly grinding them down.

Lieutenant Colonel Shane Gabriel who commanded Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force 1 says it is simple. "Progress is made when we have more population under direct influence of the government than the Taliban" he said. At the end of 2008 when Gabriel arrived, the coalition, now including Afghan government forces, has become a permanent presence in areas where formerly only special forces dared to tread. He saw the willingness of the Taliban to mass as diminished but also recognised the more ground covered, meant greater exposure to IEDs.

People assume that because of the increased dangers, the soldiers long to be brought home, but they don't - they are keen to get out on patrol and Gabriel has trouble persuading them to take a break - growing casualties have only made them more determined to serve.

So we Australians should know that our soldiers don't want to pack it in and come home, they see their efforts as worthwhile. To them, protecting military investment in Afghanistan is far more than just emotional. There is sweat as well as blood on that ground.