Canada’s voice at the U.S. Army and U.S.M.C. Counterinsurgency Center, LCOL John Malevich, asked that question when he was in Afghanistan in 2005 and 2008, looking to the Vietnamese “strategic hamlet” idea for guidance. The bad news:
“The program was a failure.”
Still, soldiering on for a solution….
“Based on this historical example, I thought the solution was to arm the Afghan villagers. In Pashtun culture there exists the tradition of the “lashkar.” The lashkar is a call to form tribal defence force or tribal police called Arbakia. It is called forth by the elders and is a great honour among Pashtun men to be called to serve …. The State should have a monopoly on violence, and there is a constant tension in Afghanistan between local authority and central authority, but surly I thought anything that could help Afghans protect themselves was a good idea.”
And how useful was the model?
“Recent reports indicate that, perhaps I was wrong.”
The tough question closes the piece:
“How can we protect the population from the insurgents? Can anyone afford the massive increase in security forces that would enable security? Is there a hybrid solution, local security forces with leadership trained, paid and loyal to the centre, like the British system in ancient Scotland, Wales and Ireland?”
I’m no expert in U.K. history, but it since it’s only been recently that there’s been less shooting and fewer explosions on the cusp of Ireland:
“The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast Agreement of 1998.”
and how long problems between England and Scotland, it’s going to be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time before a federal sort of system could be established in Afghanistan, if ever.
MILNEWS.ca Blog 