Marines (hopefully) learn more than "hello" in Pashto
North Carolina military school teaches rudimentary language skills to troops going to Afghanistan.
Among Afghans, however, the military’s new approach is foundering, with civilian casualties caused by U.S. bombing blamed for bolstering support for the insurgency. Strategic analysts, meanwhile, argue that devoting resources to the Afghan population detracts from the U.S.’s real mission: fighting the Taliban.
Other countries have tried similar approaches in the past and failed, said Paul Jabber, a former scholar for the CIA’s counterterrorism center. He was speaking about Afghanistan’s tangled history of fending off foreign invaders, most recently the Soviet Union.
Two decades of war have left Afghanistan desperate for the infrastructure and institutions that provide the jobs and stability people desire. Although the Taliban do not have widespread support, in the south of the country many villages rely on insurgents for security in the absence of a credible local government or police.
“The Afghans are a beaten down people,” said Corporal Kevin Owens, a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He worries less about the villages that support the Taliban and more about those that question a U.S. troop presence, particularly with an increasing number of civilian casualties tied to the U.S. combat mission.
Obama’s troop surge comes amid sharp criticism from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who blamed recent U.S. air strikes against Taliban militants for the deaths of more than 90 villagers in Farah province. Officials investigating the incident have apologized, but national security adviser Gen. James L. Jones said the air strikes would likely continue.
With troops in short supply and huge amounts of territory to patrol, U.S. military leaders say air strikes are often the best means of rooting out the enemy. But advisers are concerned that bombing villages helps fuel support for the insurgents. "It's easy to say this from New York, but for future credibility, I would back away and see the moment before ever dropping a bomb on a village," said Owens.
The top military brass, led by Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, argues that the military should continue to use the tactics that led to success in Iraq. As the architect of Iraq’s counterinsurgency strategy, Petraeus supported holding areas that had been cleared of insurgents and getting to know people rather than just invading villages.
Much of the training Marines undergo at Camp Lejeune does just that. And despite an increasing focus on non-conventional warfare, many believe in sticking to tried and true strategies.
Recent on Afghanistan:
America's farmer-soldiers in Afghanistan
Douglas A. Wissing - Afghanistan - November 20, 2009 14:30 ET
An elite Indiana National Guard unit is patrolling Khost Province, helping Afghan farmers to help themselves.
Afghanistan's only pig quarantined? Must be bad
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - November 13, 2009 17:25 ET
Swine flu has sent one of the world's most unflappable populations into a panic.
Afghanistan: Waiting for the dust to settle
Finbarr O'Reilly - Afghanistan - November 12, 2009 16:45 ET
Troops' deaths shatter trust in Helmand
Jean MacKenzie and Aziz Ahmad Tassal - Afghanistan - November 8, 2009 15:13 ET
Afghans and Brits alike fear that the deaths of 5 British troops at the hands of a police colleague have tipped an already tense working relationship into outright distrust.
Afghanistan: The fog of war
Finbarr O'Reilly - Afghanistan - November 5, 2009 10:51 ET
Video: Embedded with Canadian troops, photographer Finbarr O'Reilly captures the confusion and chaos of a worsening conflict.
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Why Poland has soured on Afghanistan
Jan Cienski - Poland - November 4, 2009 06:46 ET
A recent poll found 77 percent of Poles want their troops withdrawn.
Greek aid worker held by Taliban
Iason Athanasiadis - Afghanistan - November 3, 2009 06:44 ET
A schoolteacher from Athens was the only Westerner living in the valleys on Pakistan’s mountainous frontier.
Why Stephen Harper prefers US news
Sandro Contenta - Canada - November 2, 2009 20:08 ET
Questions over Canada’s role in the Afghanistan war and unflattering polls have the prime minister eyeing the exits.
Karzai declared winner by default
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - November 2, 2009 12:26 ET
The Afghan president gains a second 5-year term but there are questions about the legitimacy of his win.
Abdullah withdraws from Afghan election
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - November 1, 2009 11:23 ET
Can runoff race be valid with only President Hamid Karzai?
Taliban attacks on both sides of the AfPak border
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 28, 2009 10:34 ET
In Kabul and Peshawar, nearly 100 dead, among them UN staffers.
Rumor sparks anti-American protests
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 25, 2009 10:14 ET
A Koran-burning incident in Afghanistan prompts demonstrations in Kabul.
Flanked by foreign dignitaries, Karzai announces a runoff
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 20, 2009 10:43 ET
Two months to the day after Afghanistan’s badly flawed presidential elections, the stalemate is over.
Major fraud finding adds to pressure on Karzai
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 20, 2009 06:04 ET
A UN-backed body found that fraud may have handed the Afghan president an illegal majority, but Karzai is resisting a runoff.
Interview: Ambassador Ryan Crocker
C.M. Sennott - Worldview - October 19, 2009 09:16 ET
The longtime diplomat says Obama needs to choose an AfPak strategy before the Taliban further consolidates its hold.
Did a US 'hit' create an Afghan hero?
Jean MacKenzie and Mustafa Saber - Afghanistan - October 15, 2009 12:48 ET
American forces have finally managed to kill Ghulam Yahya Akbari, the self-styled scourge of Herat, a city he had once served as mayor. But at what cost?
A dark anniversary
Jean MacKenzie - Worldview - October 10, 2009 09:48 ET
Taking stock of the eight years since the US invaded Afghanistan: The Taliban is back, America is bogged down and Afghans are tired of it all.
Are Pentagon contracts funding the Taliban?
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 7, 2009 12:44 ET
A US military aid program is being used by the Taliban as an extortion racket.
Opinion: Isolating insurgents is nothing new
HDS Greenway - Worldview - October 6, 2009 05:42 ET
In the Vietnam era it was called pacification. Today it’s nation-building.
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