EFL - good news so I didn’t cut much.
Hamida Ghafour in Masi Kalay reports on a new US weapon: combat marketing
The American soldiers had barely climbed from their Humvee when a group of villagers brimming with gratitude approached their vehicle. "We won’t let al-Qa’eda in here," said one elder, Haji Atlas, without any prompting. "If we have problems in the village we will come to you. An American officer talks with the headmistress of a girls’ school "We support the Americans, not the Taliban because they were only for destruction, not construction." The source of their appreciation lay a few yards away: a £25,000 well funded by the American army to provide clean water for the residents of Masi Kalay, a village less than two miles from the Afghan-Pakistan border. In Iraq bombs are used to fight the war, but in Afghanistan the US military has a subtle new set of weapons in its arsenal: schools, wells and roads, or what is known in military parlance as "combat marketing".
I’m sure we would be willing to market in Iraq as well as soon as our customers Ixnay the IEDlay’s
In the remote scrub and rock valleys of the lawless border province of Khost, the military is spending £22 million on providing infrastructure in the hope of winning the loyalties of the Pathan tribes who can provide valuable information on Taliban and al-Qa’eda fighters.
| They're Pashtuns. I wouldn't get my hopes up too much. |
As Sgt Maj David Turnbull, of the 1st Battalion 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, said: "We can outspend al-Qa’eda and the Taliban. We are not bribing them, but making them realise that the Afghan government and American government are legitimate and we are the ones building wells, and schools for children. Their loyalties will shift and hopefully they will come out and talk."
| Or they'll take what we give them during the day and try and kill us at night... |
Khost was the base for at least four al-Qa’eda training camps and it was from here that Osama bin Laden escaped after the defeat of the Taliban in 2001. The currency market still exchanges Saudi riyals and the bazaars sell Osama bin Laden popcorn balls. An intelligence official said beating al-Qae’da’s propaganda was difficult. "Bin Laden has a lot of support in this area because he spent a lot of money on buildings, like the local mosque here," he said. "He is seen as a saviour to a lot of people. But in a lot of cases it’s the people below him who carry out the operations. We want to get the mid-level guys and work our way up the food chain."
Like we did in Iraq.
A school for 67 children has opened in the Salerno military base, where the 501st is stationed. The idea is that while pupils learn the English alphabet, their parents, who may be afraid to be seen speaking to Americans in the villages, feel more comfortable talking about anyone seen purchasing weapons or recruiting fighters... The military does not have enough soldiers to patrol the entire 1,500-mile Pakistan-Afghan border and the loyalty of the local population is crucial. Lt Col Harry Glenn, the task force commander of Salerno, said the tactics were working, so far. "We are seeing people on a daily basis giving information about al-Qa’eda and Taliban. Kids stop us on patrols and say there are rockets aimed at your base and people will tell us, ’Don’t go on that road because of an explosive device’. In the Khost to Gardez pass our stuff was ambushed on a daily basis and now we have not been attacked in two months." But sometimes the double act of military and aid organisation can backfire. After Capt Chuck Brooks finished having tea with the villagers of Masi Kalay, he signalled to one of his soldiers to play a message on the loudspeaker of the Humvee. Suddenly a voice in the local Pashto language screamed: "Lie on the ground and put your hands up. We will search your houses." Red-faced, Capt Brooks started shouting: "Wrong message, sorry. Wrong message." |