SNIPER Corporal Scott Smith becomes the 39th Australian killed in action in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The Mentoring Task Force's pulling out of Uruzgan. You might think the Taliban is exultant. If so you would be wrong.

Here is one among hundreds of reasons why. Earlier this year a Commando sniper team was secreted in Helmand. Through binoculars at a distance invisible to the naked eye they spotted a group of Taliban. The soldiers having means of identifying targets went through a process of obtaining verification and permission to engage.



Two marksmen using Barrett M82A1 50 calibre rifles simultaneously fired. The bullets were six seconds in the air. One killed the Taliban commander. It is not known for certain which sniper fired the fatal shot.



While there have been no triumphant press releases, in the tight global Special Forces sniper community the shot is much discussed, because it seems certain to be a world record.



As the bullet yawed through the thin air on a windless morning, GPS aids measured the distance at 2815m. That amounts to 2 1/2 times the length of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The targeted Taliban would not have heard the gunfire.



The previous world record achieved by British Corporal Craig Harrison occurred also in Helmand in November 2009. Firing from a distance of 2475m, Harrison killed two Taliban.



While British, American and Canadian sharpshooters are often celebrated the Australian Defence Force says nothing. When I sought to check this story I was politely told I could not be assisted.Fair enough. We are not talking about an Olympic event. An expert I did prise a few words from said that shooting at that distance beyond the weapons capability calls for luck, but it had still taken skill.



Delta Company of 2 Commando Regiment based at Holsworthy finished its tour months back. They are also not talking up what is seen as another day in the office.



All through southern Afghanistan the insurgency counts further costs. Since 2011 the Australian Special Operations Task Group has combined with the US Drug Enforcement Agency and Afghan National Interdiction Unit to conduct a counter nexus program with a devastating impact on the Taliban bank balance. There have been costs too. Private Nathanael Galagher and Lance Corporal Mervyn McDonald from 2 Commando were killed during a counter nexus mission in August.



DEA Regional Director Mike Marsac told me he sees no distinction between the drug lords and the Taliban. By their own choice the Americans forged a working relation with Australian commandos because they got results. The operations are timed to strike at the drug labs when the principals are in place and the farmers have been paid off. While you have heard little of it here, over there, hundreds of labs have been destroyed with billions of dollars lost to the insurgency.



Add to that the counter-leadership missions conducted almost daily by Australia's Special Air Service Regiment that keep Taliban leadership hiding out in Pakistan. You would hardly say they are winning.



But also there is no denying the Taliban strategy of waiting out the foreigners has proved more effective than the Coalition's efforts to operate a successful counterinsurgency. COIN as it is known, has become devalued in only a few years of assertive implementation. To prevail you must win the trust of the population. This was never likely when the population knew the foreigners would go before faith in their own government could build.The MTF, now surrendering their beat in Uruzgan has had a tough end of the mission. Protecting the population has meant feet on the ground and increased exposure to the Taliban's most effective weapon, the improvised explosive device.



In an already exposed environment an increase in green on blue killings by Afghan allies has accelerated their exit. While the remaining Afghan Kandaks will not patrol as effectively and in all likelihood negotiate more of an accommodation with the Taliban, it is time they took over.



Our withdrawal should not be seen as a failure. Uruzgan is a different place, with roads, schools, hospitals and the semblance of a functioning economy.The Australian SOTG will remain in Afghanistan until at least 2018. This is not good news for the Taliban. All through the hills and valleys there will be nervous discussion of lethal strikes, from nowhere.



- Chris Masters' Uncommon Soldier published by Allen and Unwin is in bookstores today.



