Afghanistan - regardless of this week's secret, middle-of-the-night, high-security snap visit by the US President - politically and militarily, still a far-from-resolved mess. A few weeks back, David Brill, one of this country's most experienced war-coverers, went on the road in that dangerously ravaged and disunited country - not by himself, but with a boldly outspoken American colonel, who does believe the war against the Taliban can be won but only if the warring sides would talk to each other. Here's David. REPORTER: David Brill It's been a violent morning in Khost Province. I'm in a military convoy travelling to see the damage. The soldiers are tense. We pass this vehicle. It was blown up just a few hours ago by a roadside bomb. SOLDIER: Some sort of car - you can see car pieces around. You see pieces of tyres, metal, a lot of debris. It's too dangerous to get out or even stop. A little further down the road, it's time to disembark. Colonel Robert Campbell is the commander of the US squadron here. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: What we drove past, just back there, was a vehicle-borne IED - suicide bomber. Everybody is OK and the driver was doing the right thing. REPORTER: The other one went off up here? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Yes, this was an ambush that happened this morning. I want to go up there and see what's happening. REPORTER: The Afghan general wants to go and have a look? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Yes. REPORTER: And you're coming along with him to see that everything is OK? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Yes, we are. Anywhere he goes, we go, because if he wants a combined action, we are right there with him This is a new partnership in Afghanistan - a counter-insurgency campaign where the locals work closely with the US forces. General Azra is from the Afghan army, the ANA. GENERAL AZRA, ANA (Translation): This is very dangerous. But the relationship is under strain. The general's not happy. Another US Humvee has been destroyed, and no-one told him. GENERAL AZRA (Translation): Tell Campbell. The commandos have been weak. They left the Humvee and ran away. TRANSLATOR: The commando, they are fucking bad. So they left the Humvee and they took off. The enemy set on fire the Humvee. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Yeah, they shouldn't do that. We had the Apaches just watching over the whole thing, I think they took a little bit of sporadic fire from that ridge line, but I can't confirm it. The ground is still smoking here, and now the colonel's not happy. He won't say it publicly but he wasn't even told that US Special Forces were on this operation, on HIS turf. Colonel Campbell has been here 12 months and his tour of duty is about to end. Despite today's hiccup, his replacement says the colonel has done a great job. LT COLONEL STEPHEN LUTSKY: I see we've got to capitalise on the success that Colonel Campbell has had and where his partnership and combined action with the ANA have gone. We do everything with the ANA. One thing I've seen with counter-insurgency is that once the population starts to accept and be part of the solution, it builds its own momentum. But I'm about to learn that "building momentum" is harder than it sounds. With just days until he leaves the country, Colonel Campbell is about to embark on his farewell tour - to say goodbye to the local Afghan leaders. REPORTER: How do you feel about leaving? Handing it over now? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Mixed emotions. You pour your heart into something like this, you want to see it through, you want... you want victory. I first met the colonel six months ago when Dateline reported on the construction of a major road here. Now he's giving me almost total access to his operations. We stop in the village of Gerda Serai to get some "atmosphere", as the colonel puts it, and "catch up with the locals". The bazaar seems peaceful enough but Colonel Campbell's sergeant knows better. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: This town is not coalition-friendly. REPORTER: Why is that? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: I'm not sure, really. There's a lot of ambushes down through here. A lot of IEDs have been found through here. Let's go see this shop owner, David, see what he's got to say. Peace be with you. I've never seen so much goods in my whole life. Where'd you get all this stuff? SHOP KEEPER (Translation): We get them from Kabul... From Lahore... From Khost... From Karachi. Business OK? It's good. REPORTER: Colonel, I've noticed you've taken your helmet off. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Yeah, I'm just trying to connect with these guys a little better, that's all. I look like a robot unless I take this stuff off. Now I look like a human being. They don't, ah, the Afghans don't like the sunglasses. You know, there's not a good level of trust there - when you're wearing sunglasses they can't see where your eyes are. Look at my good friends here, drinking chai. Everything is good. You've got good c-ordinations with the police and army over here? MAN (Translation): Yes, we are cooperating. We don't bother them. They can walk around freely. TRANSLATOR: Which kind of help are we supposed to give the ANA and the police? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Just talk to them. Tell them where the enemy are located - they come through here all the time, don't they? OK, my friends. The colonel's meet-and-greet strategy is a key part of the "fight less, talk more" new counter-insurgency campaign. According to the Americans, it's about building, not destroying. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: You're starting to see some small development improvements here, it's a very slow stair step to putting a road through this bazaar. One is the retaining wall behind the bazaar here, which you've seen on the way through. The other one are these solar lights here, which you see right next to us. Those are small improvements that we're making. But without the support of the local leaders, development on any scale isn't possible. So the colonel is constantly on the move, involved in meeting after meeting. This one involves Abdul Whali, the son of a powerful warlord. His father, Pacha Khan, is an opportunist. He's switched his allegiance many times. Now his son is the sub-governor of this district. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: And they shouldn't come talk to me, they need to come talk to you. Colonel Campbell sets out a new and controversial strategy, costing billions of dollars and funded by the international community. The money will be used to pay the Taliban to lay down their weapons. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: The good Taliban. You know there are Taliban that are good Taliban, they don't fight - they just believe in the Taliban ways of life but they're not violent - and if we can bring them over to our side, tell them to put their weapons down, I think that would be a good thing. You know I can kill 100 men up here next summer, 200 men, 300 men, but that's not going to do us any good. PACHA KHAN (Translation): You're right, we agree with you. For example, we have filled all these seats. But if anyone leaves, another will take his spot. But the sub-governor's response is about stopping people siding with the Taliban, not convincing the Taliban to lay down their arms. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: I'm glad you're saying those things and I hope I am not offending you by talking about your country this way. These are my thoughts and I'm very passionate about trying to bring security without shooting and dropping bombs and violence. The colonel is polite, but the two men are talking at cross-purposes. Either his message isn't getting through, or is being ignored. Another part of the strategy is to build and train the Afghan army and it seems there's a lot of work to do. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Would he mind if I looked at his men? Inspect his men? Where's your ammunition? Where's his ammunition? MAN (Translation): I left the magazine with my friend. Again, Colonel Campbell's not saying much, but these men haven't loaded their magazines properly. If shooting starts, they'll be in big trouble. And there are more communication problems at this meeting. RICK FISCHER, US STATE DEPARTMENT: And that we get you the answers and that we get these projects down but most important is that we show the people that there is something happening and you get to show that you're doing this for the people as part of your job - that is your job as district sub-governor. Rick Fischer from the US State Department is preaching a new system of accountability. The aim is to keep track of billions of dollars being spent on development projects. One page is needed for the project? RICK FISCHER: No, six. Each project will take all of the boxes and all of the pages to be completed. DISTRICT SUB-GOVERNOR (Translation): No, no. I understand. It's all written in Pashtu. What I mean is, do we need to fill in all of them? Are they all for different projects or only one? But there's more confusion than clarity. RICK FISCHER: Please to show him and take him and show him the pages from 1 to 6 and make sure you got 'em. Do you have them stapled together? DISTRICT SUB-GOVERNOR (Translation): I mean, are the five pages all for one project? One here, one there. Then we'll forward it to you to choose one. This is the first time over the past seven years that we've been given the chance to handle the project ourselves. Thank you very much, thank you. Once again, another meeting has ended politely, but how much was lost in translation? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: The problem is, and the same as in Khost, in the city… I get to be a fly on the wall at this very candid discussion about "the problem" as the Americans see it. SOLDIER: We say, "Hey, these are American taxpayer dollars." They get that. But then they start complaining about how we're not spending enough money in this province and I explain to them, I go, "We have $500 million of development alone going on in this province. How do you mean we're not spending enough money?" It's cat and mouse here. And I've told them in their meetings, I've said "The only thing that's going to save this country is a legitimate police force and a legitimate government, and right now everything that I'm seeing says otherwise. You guys need to clean up your act, you need to support the people," and they go, "Yes, yes, wonderful, yes, we need to support the people." They take our talking points and no lie, they take the things we discuss with them and they keep saying them over and over again to appease what we see, so that it will go away. "Yes, we understand that's American taxpayer dollars. Yes, the Americans are upset, yes, yes." So, the only way we're going to move forward here is by a massive change of faces in this place. Today we've come to General Azra's headquarters, the Afghan General we met at the burnt-out Humvee. If talking not killing is the new plan for victory, then this gathering may be Colonel Campbell's crowning achievement. He's pulled together some of the region's most powerful leaders for a 'shura', or meeting. Getting them all in the one room is no mean feat. But nothing in this war-torn nation is ever easy or straightforward. First, Colonel Campbell has to have a separate meeting with Pacha Khan Zadran. He's an infamous warlord, and now a member of Parliament. We met his son earlier. His message is clear - if the Americans think they can woo the Taliban, they're wasting their money. PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): If they want the nation on their side, the $120 million they have needs to be spent on the nation. Not on the Taliban. They won't come over. They'll take the money and still stay on the other side. I have also spoken to Karzai. I told him I don't Pacha Khan isn't invited to the big meeting that's about to start, but he's too powerful too ignore. PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): I have to be present at the meeting. If I'm not there, it's no good for you. If I'm not there, the meeting will not progress. He's a cunning operator. Campbell knows he has to keep him on side. PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): Here. By all means. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: We will lose if there is no shura at a district level. The meeting has been called to discuss security issues, and the colonel is preaching unity. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: We will lose if we can't come together like this in peace and share our concerns with each other. We will lose in the summer if the enemy comes back and lives on the mountain tops and comes to your villages for supplies. I think we all have something in common - we want a better place for our children to grow up. AFGHAN SOLDIER (Translation): The government has its shortcomings. There are problems and people are unhappy with it. To deal with the issues that the people have with the government, we want to work side by side with the sub-governors to regain the people's cooperation. The gulf that exists between the people and the government needs to be closed. And it's no surprise that Pacha Khan places himself at the centre of events. The warlord presents a gloomy view. He knows that if the Taliban ever lay down their arms he will lose his influence. PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): What has gone wrong now, that the Americans, the national army and the police have summoned me here to tell me there's a problem? To tell me it's a Taliban base, it's their centre and the people shelter them. The Taliban is there. They're out on the roads organising suicide attacks, planting land mines and creating more problems. I'm asked to solve the problem because I'm your representative. Tell me now what action should be taken. Don't come and complain later The meeting continues, but again, nothing concrete is resolved. As the leaders file out, it's impossible to read their faces. But the colonel is pumped. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Good stuff - that was a good meeting. I'm motivated now. Very good meeting this morning - a couple of key things that came out of that - they're talking about district cooperation and tribal unity - that's HUGE in Afghanistan. But there's not much unity going on outside - Pacha Khan is holding court - not about security or the Taliban, he's complaining the Americans have arrested his barber! PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): He's our barber. He cuts our hair and beards. He's been wrongly arrested... This man's very brave. He serves in this unit. Please release him. He's being held at the command centre. Can he ask the commander to release him, please? REPORTER: Is he innocent? PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): Totally innocent. REPORTER: Then why did they detain him? PACHA KHAN ZADRAN (Translation): Based on nothing. Many people are arrested like that. The guilty are free and the innocent imprisoned. It's another curly issue for Colonel Campbell's successor to tackle! If and when the coalition forces leaveAfghanistan, it's these men, the Afghan National Army, who'll take over. Today, I get to watch them going through their paces. Despite army discipline, some aren't taking the training seriously. It seems the Americans are prepared to ignore these shortcomings. REPORTER: How are they coming along as soldiers? US SOLDIER: As soldiers, they've developed a lot. They are doing really good. Way back in the day, it was a completely different ANA army, and right now they are becoming one with the public greatly. We can't go anywhere without the ANA's support. We're all about the combined action and it's developing quite well. While the war drags on, for these troops the fight is over. Now, it's time for their next mission. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Next operation is called Return to Normal. We're going to talk about that a little bit. You're on Australian TV today, by the way. You're all rock stars. So we're headed back to normal. Everything you did back at home was normal. What you've done here for 12 months is not normal. It's completely not normal - wearing body armour, carrying live ammunition, driving around in V-hulled vehicles, getting shot at, mortared, talking to elders, drinking chai, none of that is normal stuff, at all. Colonel Campbell has lost five men from his taskforce, but hundreds are returning home safe, though not unaffected. COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: Some of you have been through some horrific things, OK? You have changed, you are different people now and I want you to seek help if you need it. You waged a counter-insurgency campaign here like no-one's ever done before. Your efforts out there have gained you a huge reputation, but we can screw that up in one weekend with a DUI, a sexual harassment, something stupid. You could throw that away - put that right down the tubes. I expect you not to screw up this next operation. Do it right, just like you've done here inAfghanistan. OK, I've got nothing for you. Get on the bird, let's get out of here. REPORTER: Is Afghanistan ever going to be a peaceful and stable country? COLONEL ROBERT CAMPBELL: I think so, I do think so. You have to understand something. We are never going to rid the Taliban completely. The Taliban is going to be here. It is like a bug, you can't kill it, you can just control it and prevent it from overcoming a government and over-powering a security force. So there will be violence here. You are not going to stop violence completely, but your ability to control it and the ability of a government to deliver to its people that's what's going to make this place peaceful. Now Colonel Campbell's war will be taken up by others but violence or not, Afghanistan's future remains precarious. GEORGE NEGUS: David Brill in obviously hugely frustrating Afghanistan, with the very forthright Colonel Campbell. Not like the movies, is it? David tells us more about his trip and the dangers of working in war zones in a special interview for our website. There's also a fact file on Afghanistan, a gallery of David's photos and more on all of tonight's stories. Just go to: sbs.com.au/dateline. Reporter/Camera DAVID BRILL Producers GEOFF PARISH VICTORIA STROBL Researcher MELANIE MORRISON Editors WAYNE LOVE DAVID POTTS Translations/Subtitling NASIBA AKRAM Original Music composed by VICKI HANSEN