Update from Kabul
Our nephew’s insightful analysis of the situation there, with a tribute to the American soldier, Our nephew’s insightful analysis of the situation there, with a tribute to the American soldier
Dear Friends: news this morning from Kabul shook those of us with loved ones in that city:
"A suicide car bomber struck a Western convoy on a busy road in the Afghan capital Tuesday, setting off a powerful blast that killed at least 18 people, including five American service members and a for
eign soldier whose nationality was not immediately disclosed. The explosion, which occurred at 8 a.m. when many people were on their way to work, carved a deep crater in the road near a ruined imperial palace on the city’s western edge, overturning cars and
May, 2010
Dear Family,
I hope you all are doing well….
On Friday, I went to another camp outside Kabul in order to attend the Counterinsurgency Academy. It was incredibly interesting driving through Kabul. Incredible poverty with some mansions with large gates and walls awkwardly presiding on the Hill over a valley of dirt and poverty. This city was almost completely destroyed by a combination of the Soviets, the Civil War, and the Taliban. Mostly the Civil War. Almost every building looks decayed, neglected, and dirty. Many checkpoints and armed guards around every government building. These poor people have endured over 30 years of war.
In some ways, Kabul is not representative of the rest of the country. More favorable response here. More literacy. More visible benefits. Different ethnic makeup. Generally, more security.
Went and heard a woman who serves in the Parliament speak. Both of her children were killed by warlords or Taliban sympathizers. Now, the people who killed her children serve with her in the Parliament. She has to look at them every time she goes to work.
Just before we arrived at a destination, I saw a group of Afghan children playing in the dusty streets. Standing at a distance was an Afghan girl between 9-12 years old. She was missing a leg and was balancing herself awkwardly on crutches, watching the other children play. I wondered if she lost her leg from a landmine. The country is littered with them. We always stay on the hardball road if possible.
The Counterinsurgency training started on Friday and ends tomorrow. The training has consisted of videos, classes, skits, and practical exercises. The training has generally been very interesting and worthwhile. The Army is really going through a major cultural change. I am impressed with the degree to which the Army has institutionalized the cultural changes necessary to win this war. In 8 or 9 years, the Army has largely (not completely) changed its culture from one that only focused on closing with and killing the enemy to one that encourages privates to focus on making the lives of the populace better as a means to win the counterinsurgency. The senior officers (LTCs and COLs) seem to have the hardest time making the shift. They grew up in the conventionally focused Cold War and the idea of not immediately killing the guy planting the IED is hard for them to swallow. Kill one guy immediately as he digs the hole for the IED or follow him home and capture 20 people: the suppliers, the leaders, the bomb makers... Oh and a large percentage of the IED planters are doing it for money from the bad guys, not out of ideology. So if you kill the IED planter, you have not turned the entire tribe or family of the guy against you. Easier said than done when an IED killed your friends a few days or weeks earlier. Hopefully, the Army has added the population centric capabilities to its toolkit instead of replacing its enemy centric capabilities. I think we will need both in the future, but it is difficult to maintain both.
Regardless, I am daily reminded of the INCREDIBLE young people doing the fighting. So many of these Soldiers and Marines (not me) are enduring incredible personal discomfort, physical danger, and emotional stress. One minute they worry about being blown up, the next minute they are returning fire, and the next minute they are meeting with an elder who may or may not be a good guy. They drive slowly through town now--not making the locals angry but also making themselves more vulnerable. I wish more Americans could see their courage, toughness, and intelligence. The dumb grunt or blood thirsty marine stereotype has little basis in reality. These Soldiers and Marines are a national treasure that keep the other 99.5% of us safe through courage, restraint, intelligence, and competence.
You can never do ONE thing here. One Army unit tried to help improve a town by cleaning up the trash running down the middle of the street. A short time later, the tribal elder angrily approached the officer in charge and said why did you take away the food for our goats? The goats provide milk for the family and milk to sell for money and you have starved them by taking the trash away.
Another unit gave villagers electrical generators. The came back a few weeks later and they were using the generators as coffee tables because they did not see a need or have a desire for electricity. (Should have given them TVs too).
Another unit built a school in a province between two feuding tribes so that neither tribe would be favored and both could send their children. The tribes refused to send their children to a school that included children from the other tribe. The school remained empty and unused. It was later destroyed by one of the tribes or by the Taliban.
Corruption is everywhere. It seems to be at the root of almost every problem.
26% literacy. Life expectancy in the 40s. 1 in 6 infant mortality.
In a rural area man X killed man Y. Y’s family insisted that X family pay money and provide man Y’s sister as payment in order to avoid a blood feud. The deal was done. Woman in rural areas are often treated as property and on par with animals.
Americans and our allies build schools and then the Taliban delivers night letters threatening the parents and teachers with death if they send their kids or show up to teach. Instead, the Taliban tells parents their kids can get a good education at a Madrassa in Pakistan. The parents, eager for education and safety for their kides, send their boys to Pakistan. The boys get radicalized and come back as fighters or suicide bombers. Once the boys arrive in Pakistan, the Taliban tells the parents to work in the poppy field or plant IEDs or they will never see their son again. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/inside-the-taliban-3274/Overview
We will never kill all the insurgents. In many cases, we have stopped chasing them. We are now planting ourselves in the city, focusing on protecting the population. Dangerous, but it is the only way to win the insurgency. I think we are approaching a tipping point, and this could fall either way. Watch the Peace Jirga in late May and the Kabul Conference in July.
Enormously challenging human terrain, but I think we have the right strategy... Although I think it will take at least 10 years to be successful, starting in 2008/9 when we changed our strategy not in 2001 when we first came. For the first six years of this war, American strategy was ineffective. As Churchill said, ’you can trust America to do the right thing, after they have tried everything else...’ (paraphrase)
I love you all. I pray you are doing well.
Love, Brad
Written By: Pastor Dale
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