| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| US begins program to train and arm villagers to fight Taliban |
| 2009-02-01 |
| A U.S.-funded program to train and arm community members in Afghanistan's most dangerous regions as a way to defend against the Taliban has begun, the country's interior minister said Saturday. The community forces will be armed with the same weapons used by Afghan police - Kalashnikov rifles, said Interior Ministry Mohammad Hanif Atmar. Other officials said the program will begin in Wardak, an increasingly dangerous province on the southwest side of Kabul. "After training they will have the responsibility of protecting the people, providing security for the highways, schools, clinics and other government institutions," Atmar told a news conference. Afghan and Western officials have struggled to fight the perception that they are creating regional militias, and officials are even sensitive over the name used to describe the program. Atmar said the program is called the Afghan Public Protection Force. Atmar said the top U.S. general in the country, Gen. David McKiernan, supports the program. The tactic of engaging local Afghan communities is endorsed by Gen. David Petraeus. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #12 CAFGU forces is standard procedure to help villages defend themselves. This is not really news, it's standard FID procedures. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-02-01 22:55 |
| #11 See also PAKISTAMI DEFENCE FORUMS > SIR JOCK STIRRUP: NOT EVEN A SURGE WILL DEFEAT THE TALIBAN [best ultimately for US-NATO/Allies to dev a strong and prosperous local Govt].; + INDIA LAGS BEHIND PAKISTAN IN [strategic BM]MISSLES. INDIA has only the "PRIVTHI" SHORT-RANGE STRATMISS???; * SAME > INDIA > NEPAL RECLAIMS LANDS FROM INDIA [100,000-KM **2 in VARIOUS INDIAN STATES LOST DURING ANGLO-NEPALESE WARS + Treaty of 1816, etc.] + INDIA'S BJP WILL CARRY OUT MILITARY SURGICAL STRIKES AGZ MILITANT-TERROR CAMPS INSIDE PAKISTAN AS NEEDED IFF NDA GOVT WON'T, + HINDU EXTREMIST GROUP SRI RAM SENE CLAIMS PRO-INDIA/INDIAN ARMY SUICIDE BOMBERS ARE READY TO LAUNCH ATTACKS AGZ MUSLIMS!? * SAME > TARGET PAKISTAN: WAHINGTON'S NEXT WAR [Undeclared] MAY HAD ALREADY STARTED?, by Order of now-former POTUS Dubya last 9-11-2008 [MYT]??? + GLOBALRESEARCH.CA - CONTROL OF THE WORLD'S OCEANS: A PRELUDE [Catalyst] FOR WAR? THE PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE (PSI)AND THE US 1000-SHIP NAVY [OWG-Global Multi-Mation "Task Force"]??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-02-01 20:07 |
| #10 isn't this part of how the taliban started. the US trained ppl the mujahadeen too fight the soviets then a few years later the ISI turns alot of them into the taliban movemenet. Not exactly. The Taliban originally was formed from the refugees who fled the Soviets, then both went into religious studies and efforts to form a resistance group. It's probably more correct to say the Taliban were formed and trained from the religious elements of these refugees by the ISI, with funding from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The problem is not so much the training as it is ensuring the indigenous defense forces have proper backup and supervision. Arming villagers, giving them minimal training and then leaving them to fend for themselves is a good way to either get them killed off or subject to Taliban pressure. The Pakistanis have been masters of that with their own people in the northwestern territories. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-02-01 12:39 |
| #9 rw, no, that is not how the Taliban got started. They were a bunch of kids in Pakistani madrassahs armed by the Paks and sent to Afghanistan to take control of the civil war. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-02-01 12:33 |
#8
| |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-02-01 12:25 |
| #7 isn't this part of how the taliban started. the US trained ppl the mujahadeen too fight the soviets then a few years later the ISI turns alot of them into the taliban movemenet. And i believe they all have weapons so why are we gonna pour more of them into the area when the pakistanis can't even keep aid and supplies too ANTO safe |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-02-01 11:03 |
| #6 Actually the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) program worked pretty well in Southeast Asia until NVA regulars moved south and things became a bit more conventional. I don't argue the direct point - but the failure of the CIDG program in Vietnam was ultimately because the people in the villages really did not identify with the SVN government. This is the same problem that exists in Afghanistan - there is no central government for which the villages have any respect - or with which they can identify. There is no national identity outside of Kabul. This 'warrior' from birth mythology works when they fight each other But - they will be fighting each other - the Taliban are basically the same as they are. Afghanistan is a waste of blood and treasure. It will be three orders of magnitude more difficult to stabilize than was Iraq - perhaps one order of magnitude tougher than Somalia. Draw a line from those starting points - and get the hell out of Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2009-02-01 09:24 |
| #5 As far as I know, every village in Afghanistan has always been armed to the teeth, and village boys have always been trained to wage war as soon as they can walk. Who are routinely chewed up and spit out by professional soldiers. This 'warrior' from birth mythology works when they fight each other or draftees/conscripts or chop up women, but falls flat on its face when primitive warfare meets modern warfare. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-02-01 09:04 |
| #4 Actually the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) program worked pretty well in Southeast Asia until NVA regulars moved south and things became a bit more conventional. In 2001 elements of US Army Special Forces were used somewhat clandestinely in Operation Enduring Freedom (AFIE) in the Afghan Northern Alliance. General Dostum was quite proud of his advisors. Photo at link here. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-01 08:33 |
| #3 I wonder if the next step will be to announce the "strategic hamlet" program? CIDG revisited, +40 years. As far as I know, every village in Afghanistan has always been armed to the teeth, and village boys have always been trained to wage war as soon as they can walk. Warfare has actually been a prime form of conducting routine business in Afghanistan, virtually forever. The way to harness the warrior spirit and turn it to productive pursuits is to frame "security" activities into the context of profitable business. And - the benchmark ti beat is the profitability of opium/heroin production and smuggling. Good luck with re-channeling such efforts. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2009-02-01 01:54 |
| #2 I am glad the messiah came along...I would have never have thought of it |
| Posted by: Bill Uneang8288 2009-02-01 01:09 |
| #1 so what is the over/under that this turns into US begins program to train and arm villagers to |
| Posted by: Abu do you love 2009-02-01 00:51 |