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Afghan counterinsurgency plans in the works. Dexter Filkins on plans to form local militias against the Taliban. NYT:
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taking a page from the successful experiment in Iraq, American commanders and Afghan leaders are preparing to arm local militias to help in the fight against a resurgent Taliban. But along with hope, the move is raising fears here that the new armed groups could push the country into a deeper bloodletting.
The militias will be deployed to help American and Afghan security forces, which are stretched far and wide across this mountainous country. The first of the local defense forces are scheduled to begin operating early next year in Wardak Province, an area just outside the capital where the Taliban have overrun most government authority.
…
But the plan is causing deep unease among many Afghans, who fear that Pashtun-dominated militias could get out of control, terrorize local populations and turn against the government. The Afghan government, aided by the Americans, has carried out several ambitious campaigns since 2001 to disarm militants and gather up their guns. A proposal to field local militias was defeated in the Afghan Senate in the fall.
“There will be fighting between Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns,” said Salih Mohammad Registani, a member of the Afghan Parliament and an ethnic Tajik. Mr. Registani raised the specter of the Arbaki, a Pashtun-dominated militia turned loose on other Afghans early in the 20th century.
“A civil war will start very soon,” he said.
…
American and Afghan officials say they intend to set up local militias of 100 to 200 fighters in each provincial district, with the fighters being drawn from the villages where they live. (Wardak has eight districts.)
To help ensure the dependability of each fighter, the Americans and Afghans are planning to rely on local leaders, like tribal chiefs and clerics, to choose the militiamen for them. Those militiamen will be given a brief period of training, along with weapons like assault rifles and grenade launchers, and communication gear, said Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan defense minister.
In Iraq, American commanders relied almost exclusively on tribal leaders to put Sunni gunmen at their disposal. But in Afghanistan, 30 years of war has left the tribes scattered and attenuated. American and Afghan leaders say they are instead trying to cobble together councils made up of a wider range of leaders.
American and Afghan officials say that they are confident they can keep the militias under control and that the militias can carry out a range of duties, like providing intelligence on Taliban movements that American and Afghan forces can act on.
“We don’t know when bad people move into town,” General Tucker said. “But the local people know. They know everything.”
There have in fact been local people willing to help the Americans. One high-profile example was illustated, but unfortunately not explored in Lone Survivor, when a village took in a wounded American SEAL sniper on the run and fought the Taliban to save him, though leaders and villagers knew what it meant for them. There also have been reports of protests against Taliban murders in recent months. So maybe there is ground for the allied forces to exploit.
Filkins seeks, and finds:
In an interview, Mohammed Naim Haqmal, a leader of the Nuri tribe, said the Taliban controlled about 80 percent of Wardak Province — essentially everything except the centers of each district. At night, Mr. Haqmal said, the Taliban range freely, setting up checkpoints and laying bombs for American convoys traveling on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar.
But for all that, Mr. Haqmal said, the Taliban are unpopular in Wardak, mainly because their constant attacks prevent people from leading normal lives. Two months ago, Mr. Haqmal said, a group of villagers from the Jagatoo district rioted when the Taliban blocked a local road in order to stage an attack on some American forces. Taliban fighters opened fire on the villagers, killing five.
“The Taliban want to fight, and that causes problems for the people,” Mr. Haqmal said. “People just want to live their lives.”
…
“We already have the Afghan Army and police — they should stick with them,” Mr. Haqmal said.
A Taliban commander based in Wardak Province, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear that he would become a target, predicted that the government militias would find it hard to put down roots in the area, if only because the Taliban had already done so.
“We are living in the districts, in the villages — we are not living in the mountains,” the Taliban chief said. “The people are with us.”
A late gift for the person on your list who gives a damn and wants to grasp the complexity of these difficult wars of ours: Great American war correspondent Filkins’ great, soaring ground view, The Forever War. Speaking of complex issues, this article raises the question again of whether it is appropirate to shield the identities of enemy fighters, who are engaged as reported above in murderous tactics, vs. the benefit of finding out what they are thinking and doing. The idea that Filkins is protecting the identity of a criminal who lives among the people, killing them and killing allied soldiers, is distasteful. Would any reporter do that for a mass killer or crime lord in America? Wars may involve crimes and criminal action but are not necessarily domestic criminal situations. A war also is not a normal news story that requires conventions of fairness and comment from all parties. But a counterinsurgency is not a normal war, so maybe it comes down to whether the enemy is being gratuitously given a platform and glorified, as we’ve seen in cases such as the recent Rolling Stone road trip, or whether a more complete picture and actual news is being reported.
Quick Afghan news roundup:
VOA: Analysts say A’stan to be a key challenge for Obama admin
LA Times: Obama stays briefed, plans afoot for surge. “How much is too much” is a key question.
AP: Karzai presses Joint Chiefs Chair Mullen on strategy.
India Times: The most dangerous game, spying in Afghanistan
CTV: Canadian commander takes issue with human rights group’s report on night raids, air strikes.
Pak Daily Mail: Why the US is effing it up.
US N&WR: Bush team urges Obama to act quickly.
Anyway, regarding the question posed at top. Happy New Year? It will be another year of war, with a new commander in chief and new challenges in a shifting battle. There will be blood. But may 2009 be as successful, as bring us a little closer to the end of the Forever War, as 2007 and 2008 did.
Topics: Afghanistan, GWOT, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:58 am on Wednesday, December 24, 2008
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