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Jan-05-2010 22:15printcomments

Why Would a Surge Really Work in Afghanistan?

One reporter's thoughts on a huge national endeavor to turn the war around.

Salem-News.com
Story author with members of the Sons of Iraq- Sunni militia members, during the summer of 2008, toward the end of Bush's highly touted "surge". Photo: Ryan Ahern

(SALEM, Ore.) - When it comes to the idea of a military "surge" in Afghanistan, the first thing Americans need to wrap their minds around, is the natural tendency of people to have patriotic and even nationalistic motivations. This should come as no surprise to Americans, it doesn't matter where you were born, it only matters that you were born.

Siding with an occupational force has to be a lot to ask of somebody. You could say that is particularly true when it comes to the United States; it isn't a good risk. It's a country that baits allies with promises and then bolts after popular support vanishes. Perhaps the U.S. government is thankful that people in Afghanistan are so pitifully uneducated.

Kurds, South Vietnamese, now the Sunni's in Iraq. History shows that the U.S. is a maker of false promises, buying the support it receives. They even print playing cards that double as wanted posters, and then pack their bags and split, time after time, leaving behind millions in taxpayer funded military equipment, and plenty of garbage.

Americans, like all warring people, trash the countries they fight in. When it comes to Uncle Sam and military warfare, all environmental planning and consideration is off the table: exempt. This is the policy of elected civilian politicians, it is not the specific fault of those in uniform.

"Surging" the activity kills more enemy combatants, it also raises the assault level on the earth to a first-degree offense. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure tanks and HUMVEE's don't have smog equipment, if you know what I mean... but that is the least of the problems.

Ending days of Iraqi Surge. Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

How about the billions of gallons of oil and aviation fuel that are being used on this effort? Oh wait, we can make up for that at the flight counter and the gas pump, doing our duty as tax paying Americans who have nothing to say about the matter.

War is a dirty business, true. But when it happens in context with a war we had no business starting, we are very much in the wrong. I suppose it is the inevitable fallout when weapons become the solution to the world's problems.

Another example is the way American forces, mostly young men without a lot of background in life, become vengeful with indigenous people because they supposedly "work with the enemy", who in this case could be a friend from school.

It is as natural of a feeling as one could expect in these conditions, and a result of an undefined war that is too long in both years and odds.

Like in Vietnam, the U.S. is 'large and in charge' and will always consider those who work with the foes they fight to also be "the enemy".

This creates an impossible situation for those who have to receive the Americans during the day, and see the enemies of the Coalition forces at night.

This is why American soldiers murdered several hundred civilians at My Lai back in '68, in a region known as "Pinkville" due to perceived, and probably very real... collaboration with the other side.

I think the average American needs to answer a very personal question; if you were a young Afghan, what side would you go with? Just remember that you are in their shoes, and you know what they would know. You see death inflicted by both sides, what's your call?

I personally don't think there is any good answer for that question, living in a land of patriots and all. What are you loyal to and why?

Those Afghans who are fortunate enough to live past the country's average life span which is barely above 40-years, remember a different occupational force that their government sided with, the Soviet Union, during an invasion that lasted ten years and claimed many lives.

Was it correct then to follow their national leader and the occupational force?

To be fair, the Soviet invasion and the Coalition War have extremely different personalities; the Russians raped and pillaged, poisoned water supplies, acting in a cruel fashion. Each war though has brought the same convoys of vehicles passing on the roads and highways, each time those who spoke the language of the occupiers made good wages as "interpreters", paid by the occupying governments.

Abandoned Soviet tanks in Afghanistan in late 2006.
Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

I personally believe that the bravest Afghans are those who stand against the brutal tactics of the Taliban. I met many Afghan soldiers in different parts of the country, and in those ranks I saw a wide range of people. Most young Afghan men are highly uneducated. They are poor and a large number join the military to generate money for their families.

During the weeks I spent around the Kabul Military Training Center, I saw thousands of Afghan National Army recruits. One thing that stands out is the ethnic/tribal integration present in their military.

I also met three top Afghan Battalion commanders who had the most diverse backgrounds possible; one had been a Mujahideen fighter against the Soviets, one had been a Communist officer under the old Afghan regime, and one was a former Taliban.

Together and with their clearly opposing pasts, they commanded a successful training group that had real diversity. That was positive, but they were still vastly underpaid.

After all this time, almost a decade of war in Afghanistan, the United States hasn't been able to figure out the simple fact that Afghan National Army and Police members are not earning a livable wage, and that real loyalty is contingent on that. This single factor has a lot to do with everything.

We spent hundreds of millions in Iraq that could have been used to adequately stand up the Afghan Army. I can not believe the politics and choices of the last U.S. president, and none of us will soon forget. The United States' future has been so completely compromised by Bush and his team of cronies, that it may never recover.

Surging Interests

Under George W. Bush's policy, you couldn't negotiate with terrorists, even to save a life, but you were welcome to buy their loyalty with U.S. greenbacks in a "Surge", what gives?

Is that not the biggest double standard in the world?

So we don't "just work it out" with them, but we're more than happy to put them on our payroll.

Sadly I have seen both ends of this argument; Afghanistan with sparse U.S. troops scattered all over the dangerous landscape, underequipped, and I was in Iraq when they were 'phasing out' the "Surge: and specifically, the Sons of Iraq program that paid Sunni militias to be loyal to the U.S.A. They were paid exactly $305 a month and there were constant questions about their loyalty.

I was there when they were told the money was going away. The Sunni tribal leaders were very unhappy and told American forces that the IED's that had quieted during the surge would all return. It was never meant to be anything but a band aid for the war's image. Bush had no intention of any sustainable plan.

During this surge the Americans built huge walls in Baghdad between the Sunni and Shi'ite neighborhoods that had never existed before, and suddenly for the first time, locals had to identify themselves by religion on their national ID, just like in Darfur, before that genocide started.

So we expect these folks in Afghanistan to side with us, I have to wonder what it really will mean in the long run. The Taliban are not even real Muslims, that is the kicker when it comes to all of this. They're as genuine to their faith as some weird religious nut here in the U.S. casting hatred in the name of God.

Will surging the level of troops in Afghanistan turn around a problem? I hope so, but I doubt it. This place has never yielded to an occupational force, I don't know why they would start doing it now. I would however like to go back and see for myself, maybe later this year, I'll keep our readers posted.

=================================================
Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com




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Hank Ruark January 6, 2010 1:53 pm (Pacific time)

January:
My comment on another thread suggested your statements might be UN- or MIS-informed, rather than Malign-intended.
Yours here shows clearly the latter, and you should not only look yourself in the eye in the mirror, but perhaps consider self-punishment for such self-revealing irrationality.


Jim January 6, 2010 8:42 am (Pacific time)

Fortunately no Americans were killed in Iraq last December and we all hope that will be a trend that goes into the distant future. The "surge" in Iraq has worked, American forces have been reduced in Iraq as the Iraqi military and security forces continue to grow in both size and expertise. Neither American civilian nor military leaders desired to have a long term occupation force in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Though we are still in Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Bosnia and many other countries around the world. The terrorists will be defeated, and people with the same mindset as say Sen. Harry Reid ("the war in Iraq is lost" 2007) or Sen. John Kerry (well he said a lot of negative stuff about our military, just like the lies he said about Vietnam) are always wrong and misleading. These kinds of people really hurt morale while boosting the terrorists agenda. Many untrained and uninformed people offer their opinions, but we have professionals that understand a lot more of what is going on than these ill informed morons. What we need now, more than ever, is responsible leadership who quit blaming others but look for solutions. It may be a while before we get that kind of leadership once again, so expect more blaming and distractional behavior and increased body counts overseas and domestically until we have new leaderhip, soon I hope. The xmas and the Ft. Hood terrorist acts are a result of incredibly poor leadership, the pre 9/11 mindset of the Clinton Cabal, now we have miranda rights given to enemy combatants who were prepared to kill not only other people, but themselves, so why give them a lawyer for some future deal? Can you people understand how absurd that is? Wait until you see a large body count or you have loved ones killed and see how you feel then. These are some really bad/incompetent people who have no experience in warfare running things. Not unlike many opinion makers out there...morons, full of self-importance.

Tim King: You are either incapable of remorse for having elected such poor leaders or simply stubborn, but you are not correct.  It is your ilk that has caused all of this.

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