Back In Afghanistan

Back in Afghanistan, the Times tells us that Petraeus and Karzai are at odds over Petraeus' vision of empwering local self-protection forces, which we might agree to describe as militias.

The Times does not belabor the point but the US had good success promoting local militias during the Anbar Awakening in Iraq.  Thomas Ricks ("The Gamble") noted that this was an expedient short term strategy with a long-term downside - arming the Sunnis was not necessarily a step towards creating a strong central government.

Karzai has just that issue now:

KABUL, Afghanistan — With American commanders pushing to expand the number of armed village forces in areas where their troops and the local police are scarce, the Afghan president is signaling that he has serious concerns that such a program could return the country to warlordism, challenging the power of the central government.

The village forces have been one of the top subjects under discussion in frenetic daily meetings for the past week between Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American military commander in Afghanistan, and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. The two are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, according to senior NATO military officials here.

They will discuss a modified version of the plan that tries to assuage Mr. Karzai’s doubts by agreeing to his request that the Afghan government be involved at every stage of the program. Officials close to both the Afghans and the Americans sound cautiously optimistic that they will reach an agreement in the next few days.

“We have to make sure that we don’t develop militias or any other kinds of forces that might undermine the government and become another kind of instability,” said the president’s spokesman, Waheed Omar.

I can see the problem from ten thousand miles away - Petraeus can find villagers who will fight the Taliban on behalf of their village, but not on behalf of some abstract government in Kabul.  Should he allow the able-bodied into service immediately or wait until they find some loyalty to Karzai?

The "right" answer will be to work out some governmental fig leaf, as described:

Among Mr. Karzai’s demands are that any local force be under the control of the local Afghan police commander, wear uniforms, be paid through the Ministry of Interior, and be under the ministry’s command, Mr. Omar said.

Well.  Under the command of "local" police who show up once a month.  Whatever.

A bit more background:

The village defense forces, which General Petraeus and his predecessor, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, wanted to expand, and the new version that is now under discussion, were first set up in a test form by Special Operations forces in a handful of communities. They were intended to act as local protection in areas where there were neither Afghan police officers nor army units nor many American forces.

In addition, there are a number of other militia-type organizations, including many security companies, some of whom wear police uniforms but do not answer to the local police chief. There are also armed groups with darker intentions, like ones that sprang up in Kunduz to fight the Taliban but that soon began to prey on locals. And there are tribal groups that have the blessing of the Americans to keep the Taliban out of their communities.

With such a legacy, Mr. Karzai’s government, while willing to accept the need for local protection forces, wants to be sure that their numbers are kept to a minimum, Mr. Omar said.

It's all good.  Yike.

Comments

[Clarice]

Oh, well. it IS Obama's war after all. *Ducking and running to RNC hq*

[Danube of Thought]

This will all end in tears.

[JM Hanes]

From some of the headlines in circulation, it seems to me the press is making much ado about what looks like Petraeus and Karzai just hammering out a workable strategy.

[noemy]

Maybe a social innovation fund administered by one of his pals through Congress?

[Strawman Cometh]

I agree with JMH (the odds are with me)

[Ignatz]

--I agree with JMH (the odds are with me)--

SC,
I bow to no one in my esteem for the sagacity of JMH, but I have to say I figure the odds are with DoT on this one.

[Soylent Obamacare]

Petraeus can find villagers who will fight the Taliban on behalf of their village, but not on behalf of some abstract government in Kabul.

Decentralized power.

Isn't it a bit ironic that Afghanistan's salvation may also be our own?

[Neo]

Is the end of "cheap labor" at hand ??

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Factory workers demanding better wages and working conditions are hastening the eventual end of an era of cheap costs that helped make southern coastal China the world's factory floor.

A series of strikes over the past two months have been a rude wakeup call for the many foreign companies that depend on China's low costs to compete overseas, from makers of Christmas trees to manufacturers of gadgets like the iPad.

Where once low-tech factories and scant wages were welcomed in a China eager to escape isolation and poverty, workers are now demanding a bigger share of the profits. The government, meanwhile, is pushing foreign companies to make investments in areas it believes will create greater wealth for China, like high technology.

Well they haven't really tried Afghanistan yet.

[matt]

the same thing worked in Anbar, but there was much more structure there....with the murder of 3 British soldiers yesterday by an Afghan NCO, who can one trust?

[Replica Aigner Watches]

I love it,Excellent article.I am decide to put this into use one of these days.Thank you for sharing this.To Your Success!

[Jo Biteme]

I think Petraeus has a great but I also think Karzai is correct in placing them under governmental control....Too many militias will only bring MORE confusion...by training the police and army we allow AFG to stabilize....and by localizing them we keep the tribes, who are critical, involved...also pay-off the tribes to ensure the TB do not infiltrate

[MEC2]

Of course, we can't have Afghans armed and organized at the neighborhood level to protect their families and property! That might lead to tribalism and armed warring bands fighting amongst themselves. Oh wait, we already HAVE that.

Anyone who refuses to allow a man the means to defend himself and his family is as guilty of murder as those who eventually will make a victim of him.

[Steve]

When Dave "Peaches" Petraeus and I (and about 220 other 2LTs) went thru Infantry Officer Basic Course at Ft Benning in 1974, the schoolhouse was still teaching the Foreign Internal Defense (FID) doctrine of counterinsurgency, a major feature of which was local militias. The example of the South Vietnamese Regional and Popular Forces (Ruffpuffs) was then current and is now transformed into the AFPAK theater of war. Regional Forces were American and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) led mobile militia forces for use in reponses to NVA or VC activities, as well as for larger coordinated actions, while the Popular Forces were village based and self-defense focused. An excellent description of the three-man US Army team that led/mentored a village militia may be found in "Once a Warrior King" by David Donovan.

[second income]

Well then, take care!...your write up sounds really interesting..thanks for this..i enjoyed reading it.

[second liar]

OK, tell me quick what he said. No fair peeking.
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