# Operations in Kandahar complex, require subtlety

/ Published March 29, 2010

CAMP EGGERS, Afghanistan (March 29, 2010) – More than 96 percent of the people of Afghanistan  oppose the Taliban, but that doesn’t mean the Afghan government and the  coalition are home free.

                       While they want the Taliban out, they also want some things from  their government and coalition forces, a senior NATO military official  speaking on background said here. “They also oppose corrupt  government, and they don’t find local government officials who don’t  deliver particularly impressive, and they don’t like [international  forces] that destroy their property or kill their neighbors,” he said. Three  senior military officials briefed reporters traveling with Navy Adm.  Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen is here for  another first-hand look at the conflict that soon will have more  American servicemembers in Afghanistan than there are in Iraq. Coalition  and Afghan security forces are building on successful operations in  Helmand province to launch similar operations in Kandahar city and  province. Kandahar is the second-largest city in Afghanistan and the  spiritual home of the Taliban. An official describing the enemy  said roughly three-quarters of Taliban fighters fight in or near their  birthplaces. This means there is a very small cadre that comes from  outside the area. “What we’ve got is a homegrown problem,” the official  said. It is a complex problem, he said, exacerbated by ties of tribe and  family. Problems in the country are caused by the lack of  military capacity and governance capacity, he said. “More than  anything else, it is the lack of capacity of this government to deal  with the problems it faces. It is our biggest challenge,” he said. “In  the end, the Afghan people will decide that there is enough capacity,  and it is their perceptions that we are working on right now.” The  counterinsurgency strategy stresses protecting the population. “We  can’t shoot our way out of this,” he said. If coalition forces kill two  Taliban fighters, they might have created another 10 insurgents, because  each of these people has brothers, sons, fathers and extended families  who might seek revenge. “In our strategy there is a bet, and  that bet is that we, the coalition, can only get the Afghans to a  certain place, and at some point they are going to have to deliver on  the governance piece,” he said. “The bet is that if we create the  conditions – if we partner, if we bridge, if we create the space – they  can deliver.” Partnership is key to success, and coalition  forces are partnering with Afghan army units and Afghan police in the  field as they conduct operations. The Afghan National Civil Order Police  worked with Marines in the operation in Marja and came out with  excellent reports, said officials. Officials understand that  even with the surge into the country, there will not be enough troops to  impose peace, nor will there be enough units to partner with every  Afghan unit. The idea is to “rob the oxygen” from the insurgency in key  areas and create the conditions for the government to succeed. Marja  is not over yet, but it is going in the right direction, the official  said. Bazaars are open, families are returning, and there are signs that  the Taliban are having problems. Small numbers of Taliban are actually  starting to come in. “They are frustrated,” the official noted. “They  saw the coalition really emphasize communication in Marja.” Shaping  operations already have begun in Kandahar, officials said, and Afghan  officials are briefing Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the operation.  “He has to lead this fight,” the official said. “He’s very good when you  get him out of the palace, and he has great effect as a tribal leader.”  Part of the strategy is to “shura our way to success,” he said.  Afghan government officials must hold shuras – meetings of influential  community leaders – with groups throughout Kandahar and its approaches,  he said. The people have to ask for the operation, just as they did in  Helmand. “We’re going to have to have a situation where they  invite us in,” the official said. The success in Helmand has  encouraged Afghans, and officials hope this transfers to Kandahar. “The  key is we have to be done by Ramadan,” the official said. “We have to  be in the ‘hold and build’ phase when that starts [in mid-August].”