On the march with Helmand’s hope

Nick Meo writes from the newly resecured Helmand town of Musa Qala.

WITH A Bollywood tune blaring from the pick-up truck's sound system and a giant Russian anti-aircraft gun swivelling on its back, an Afghan National Army (ANA) patrol roared down Musa Qala's main street in a cloud of dust, past a group of amused British soldiers.

Mr. Meo goes on to talk about the Afghan National Army (ANA),

They don't look like a very conventional military force. Armed with old Soviet weapons and recruited from the ranks of veteran militiamen and eager youngsters from the length and breadth of the country, at first sight they bear more than a passing resemblance to the private armies that have wrought mayhem in Afghanistan for 20 years. But they are tough, regarded as good fighters, and disciplined, even if they do dress up in a motley collection of kit, with a liking for baseball caps instead of steel helmets and a taste for adorning their weapons with roses plucked from the gardens of the people they have come to liberate. The ANA is, however, perhaps the only institution in the new Afghanistan which works. Government has been dogged by corruption and incompetence; opium eradication has been a disaster; the police are regarded as little better than brigands in uniform. But the ANA is a disciplined force which has brought together Afghans from all ethnic groups into one effective institution...

Mr. Meo goes on to say,

British soldiers who have served in Iraq, often leaving with distinctly mixed feeling about Iraqi security forces, are enthusiastic about the Afghans.

I find several things interesting about this article.

1. Police Forces:

Like Iraq, the Afghan police have an issue with corruption. A police force is better if it comes from the hometown which it will patrol as it will be well known to the population and have a degree of brotherhood with the locals. This fact however, seems to cause corruption intially.

Iraq has/had this problem and is being slowly rectified. Afghan still has this problem. It needs to be rectified. NATO may want to look at the Iraqi example in ending Afghan Police corruption. While the Iraqi Police is not a resounding success, it appears from reports to be less corrupt than the Afghan Police.

2. Armies:

Army's tend not to have the amount of corruption as do police forces as they represent a larger cross section of the population as a whole. Therefore, they learn to get along with brothers in arms who may be of different tribes, ethnicities, or heritages. Where Armies tend not to be corrupt, they also tend to take longer to be effective than police. Police forces are typically corrupt, but effective to a certain extent from day one.

It is kind of a shell game. Get local police on the ground to establish a presence. Develop the Army. Army takes over from corrupt police. Police get retrained and then take over from Army. Army moves to a different area to start the process all over again.

The Afghan National Army is now a potent fighting force, but it is too small to control the country. This sound very familiar to Iraq only one short year ago. However, Iraq has added over 100,000 Soldiers in 2007 and now have the numbers to be everywhere to quell insurgencies leading to peace in Iraq. The Afghan National Army needs to build it numbers while maintaining its potency.

3. Timing is everything.

British Soldeirs are stating that Afghan Soldiers are tougher and better fighters than Iraqi Soldiers. However, if these British Soldiers are currently in Afghanistan, they were probably in Iraq over two years ago when the Iraqi Army was just forming. A lot of progress has been made with Iraqi Security Forces who are now in the lead in many operations, just like their Afghanistani counterparts.

4. National Leaders:

Finally, both Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from corruption at the national level with regards to their leaders. I believe this is indictative to the development of a democracy, especially in these regions where democracy is a new method of government. It was definitely corrupt in early America.

Those in power first attempt to get rich, to line their own pockets at the expense of the people, since money talks in these regions. However, national leaders begin finding out that money is not the root of power. Right behind it is the physical well-being of the populous. If the populous is not being taken care of, they will vote leaders out of office. This is what is special about a democracy. This shocking realization about a democracy seems to hit all leaders when new elections are upcoming. They attempt to get laws passed to better help and protect the population so as to retain power.

It is hitting Maliki, Talabani, and Hashimi now which is why they are forming a coalition which represents all the people. It will be interesting to see when it hit Afghanistani leaders.

Iraq has also been able to solve one other issue that Afghanistan has not, namely national reconciliation. While not solved in Iraq at the national level, grassroot reconciliation is present in Awakening groups and CLCs. While rumors abound about some Taliban changing sides, we have yet to see this unfold in Afghanistan. It seems that this grassroots reconciliation must happen prior to corruption being lessened at the national level and national leaders starting to rule and govern for the people they were elected to represent.

While we have been in Afghanistan longer, it is moving ahead at its own pace to establish a strong, stable democracy. However, reconciliation and corruption will have to be diminished prior to the democracy becoming a potent force in and of itself.