It hardly seems possible, but I have been in Pakistan for two years today.  I want to sincerely thank each of you for your emails, thoughts and prayers.

I believe that those of us working here are, in some small way, making a positive difference for the people of Pakistan.  And if we can help create a safer and more peaceful Pakistan, it might allow our troops in Afghanistan to come home more quickly.  It may mean that a dedicated young patriot in the Army, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, or the others in our military will not have to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the safety of the United States.

I don’t know that what we do will ultimately make any difference, but “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke)

I may well be here in Pakistan for some time.  I now have many friends here who are counting on me, and the challenges still remain.

So, what has been accomplished and what may be accomplished in the future, please share these pictures and this day with me.

Chuck Bennett
Islamabad, Pakistan

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
‘Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?’
And I said, ‘Here am I, send me!’”

Isaiah 6:8

Chuck Bennett

by the way:

Two members of the North West Frontier Province Bomb Squad.  They were trained by ICITAP and disarmed over 100 explosive devices in the latter half of 2009.

Chuck Bennett trainiert Polizisten in Pakistan. An anderer Stelle berichteten wir ausführlicher über seine Aufgaben. Der ehemalige Chief des Lynchburg Police Department sendet regelmäßig Beiträge für unseren blog.
Danke Chuck! Take care!

Here you get the monthly report from Chuck Bennett, Pakistan:

Friends,

As you have probably seen on the news, the Pakistani Army, police and border security forces are battling the Taliban in the North West Frontier Province.  I have been working with the Pakistani police in the NWFP for the last several weeks.  Our team is helping them develop and implement policing and security plans for the huge internally displaced persons camps that have sprung up in the NWFP.  UN personnel now estimate that over 3 million Pakistanis have fled the fighting in Swat, Malakand, Mohmand, and Buner.  Half of these are in camps in the NWFP.  Many of the Taliban have shaved their beards, cut their hair, and rolled down their pant legs.  They are now mingling with the IDPs in the camps.  We’re advising the police on ways to get the IDPs to identify the fugitive Taliban hiding in the camps.

The camps are an absolute mess.  No arrangements for sewage, little water, no shade.  It was 106 at the camp near Mansehra on Tuesday.  I have never smelled a smell like that!  I have attached several pictures taken at the camp.  I have attached several pictures taken at the camp.  I believe that what we are doing is helping the refugees have a safer place to live.

I will be going north into the Himalayas next Friday to Skardu.  We will get far enough north to see K-2.  Does “Three Cups of Tea” ring a bell?  This is where Mortenson is based.  The Pakistan military is driving the remaining Taliban out of the NWFP into the Northern Area along the Chinese border.  The police there are asking for some organizational help and training to counter this threat, and I’ll be up there checking out potential venues.

The Taliban have been sending suicide bombers into the NWFP and the Punjab with devastating regularity.  People still go about the business of living every day, cautiously but with little outward signs.  In Urdu its, “Yeah-hee zinda-ghee hey!”  That’s life!  Life goes on, and so does our work.

Your friend in a battle-scarred Pakistan,

Chuck

Photo: Charles Bennett

Anmerkung:
Mein Freund Chuck, ehemaliger Chief Lynchburg Police Department bildet pakistanische Polizisten aus und berichtet regelmäßig über die Situation in Pakistan.
Chuck ist in Pension(!) leistet dennoch seinen Beitrag im Kampf gegen den internationalen Terror.
May God bless you, Chuck!

Saturday, April 04, 2009

At approximately 8 AM on Saturday, April 4th, a powerful explosion rocked my house.  The walls shook and the windows rattled.  The blast was at a Frontier Corps camp here in Islamabad about 500 yards from my house.  A ten minute gun battle followed the blast.  Automatic weapons, rifle and pistol fire was very close as I stood on my upper deck.  At least 8 Frontier Corps and Ranger personnel and several civilian were killed.  Scores were seriously injured.  The Taliban terrorist from the North West Frontier Province, Baituallah Mehsud, is really playing hardball.  The Manawaan police school attack on Monday, and now this.

All our personnel are safe and well, and sheltered in secure locations.

We had graduations from two of our training courses this morning (Saturday).  To get to the National Police Academy where the courses were held I drove by the FC camp that was just attacked by the suicide bomber tonight.

At the first graduation of senior police officials who were involved in a course on proactive police operations, the class spokesman spoke to me, say, “We are fighting for the survival of our country.  We need you to continue to help us in this fight.  Do not abandon us!”

This plea was so fervent that it choked me up for a moment.  I told him, “We will stand by you.  We will not run, we will not abandon you!”  And I mean that sincerely.

The other graduation, an hour later, was our levy class from the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) which borders Afghanistan.  These security officers have never had any formal training until we began the program last year.  We have now trained almost two hundred levies from the seven FATA agencies.

During this graduation, the class spokesmen, who only spoke Pashtoon and required a translator, said,
“I know that the American instructors have given us the skills to stay alive and protect our people.  We can see and feel their love for us, like our parents love us.  If only our leaders loved us like they do!”

Events like this steel our resolve to remain and to redouble our efforts to help these brave officers fight the scourge of terrorism that threatens the safety of all in Pakistan and, in truth, all in the world.  The danger is real, but so is our commitment.  Commitment will always overcome danger.

I never thought I would end up with Pakistani police and security forces at “the point of the spear.”

But here I am, and here I will remain while there is important work to do.

Chuck Bennett

Mein Freund Chuck bildet pakistanische Polizei aus. Vor seiner Pensionierung war er Chief des Lynchburg Police Department. Jetzt sieht er seine Berufung jedoch darin, diese gefährliche Tätigkeit als Polizei- Ausbilder zum Wohle des pakistanischen Volkes und im Kampf gegen den internationalen Terrorismus auszuüben.
Ich bat ihn darum, seine oben zitierte E-Mail auf dem blog veröffentlichen zu dürfen. Daraufhin antwortete Chuck:

Tom,

Yes, please feel free to use it as you see fit.

Things are somewhat quieter today.  Let’s hope it lasts for a while.

Chuck