Afghanistan and The Military

In Afghanistan the enemy blends in so well with the general population they are almost impossible to spot. One soldier said, “Osama bin Laden could walk right up to me and I wouldn’t know who he was.” In Afghanistan any information exist only at tribal levels and tracking the movement of any individuals and entire communities is next to impossible. Roadside bombs are the insurgents weapon of choice and they are deadly.

This is not an interconnected society, at best only 25% of the population can read and the difference between a village and the nearest city is about two hundred years. In Afghanistan you are starting at the very beginning. It’s like trying to take the American Indians in their purest form and put them today in New York city.

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When you have a population that can’t read and religious leaders are trusted, they can say whatever they like and people will believe it. It is very hard for the American military to penetrate this influence. The U.S. effort is aimed at bridging the gaps between villages, districts, and the provincial capital government in Kabul which has had little control over the country for 30 years. It is not an easy task.

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9,000 Marines have begun deployment to the southern provinces of Helmand to renew the assault on the Taliban. They will be followed by 1,000 Army trainers in February. New forces will not start moving until President Obama outlines his new strategy in his speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The plan is expected to call for 30,000 to 35,000 new troops in a phased deployment in the next 12 to 18 months.

Sgt. Michael McCann said,”Before deploying here we were given training on language, culture,and everything. I thought since I was an Iraq combat veteran, I didn’t need any of that stuff. I was wrong. Both countries may be Muslim, but this is a totally different place. The sheer terrain of Afghanistan is much more challenging: for mountains, altitudes, severity of weather, the distances. That wears on an Army.”

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In Afghanistan troops routinely cross passes of 10,000 feet, going down into valleys where villagers hibernate five months out of the year, and are cut off by the winter snows. Relying on religious leaders to shape their view of the outside world. Loyalty is first given to religious leaders, second to the tribe, with government coming in a poor third.

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