Allies turn Afghan insurgents into partners
ISAF seeks to reintegrate insurgents back into society
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Oct 31, 2009 10:00:12 EDT
KABUL â A new initiative to persuade low- and mid-level Afghan insurgents to lay down their weapons and rejoin society is already bearing fruit and holds great promise for the future, say senior officials in the NATO coalition here. A similar strategy is credited with decreasing the violence in Iraq.
Though the Afghanistan âreintegrationâ initiative is only now getting off the ground, hundreds of insurgents have taken advantage of it, and many others are waiting for the Afghan government and the coalition to announce the specifics of the reintegration plan, said Maj. Gen. Mike Flynn, the director of intelligence for the International Security Assistance Force.
Flynn and other ISAF officials emphasize that they do not view the reintegration effort as a âsilver bulletâ that will bring a quick victory over the insurgency. Nevertheless, said British Lt. Gen. Jim Dutton, the deputy ISAF commander, âThere is lots and lots of potential in this.â
The initiative is based on the strong belief at ISAF headquarters that most insurgents are not ideologically committed to their leadersâ aims and would be willing to quit fighting under the right conditions.
âWhat weâre finding is the dissatisfied, disenfranchised, traumatized folks who are the ones who are the foot soldiers for the ideologues or the radical folks ⦠often find themselves in a position where if they need to take care of their family, the only way to do that is to implant IEDs or to fire shots at the coalition,â said Col. John Agoglia, director of the counterinsurgency training center here. âA majority of these folks, if given the means to provide for themselves and their family, will very easily lay down their weapons.â
The Afghans call them the âupset brothers,â the low- and mid-level fighters who are fighting for money or to gain revenge for some perceived injustice, or because they are being coerced, rather than for ideological reasons or out of a lust for power. The phrase has caught on with ISAF.
It is these âupset brothersâ at whom the reintegration initiative is targeted.
âThe reasons why people fight will be different in different villages and different communities in different parts of the country, but a lot of the drivers of instability and a lot of the drivers for the reasons why these individuals fight are indeed rectifiable,â said Col. Chris Kolenda, a special adviser to ISAF commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal and director of strategy for reintegration.
Although persuading insurgents in Iraq to stop fighting the coalition â and in many cases to fight with the coalition against al-Qaida in Iraq â was crucial to lowering the violence levels there, Kolenda said there are important distinctions between the two countries.
âIn Iraq you could talk to a tribal sheikh and that individual commands the loyalty of 10,000 individuals,â he said. âThe tribal structure in Iraq had not atrophied.â
In contrast, over the past 30 years the Afghan tribal structures have broken down under the pressure of war and deliberate attempts to fracture them on the part of the Afghan communist government in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s. âI cannot go to the head of the Ghilzai Pashtun confederation and say, âHey, letâs have all the Ghilzais stop fighting,ââ Kolenda said. âThat individual doesnât exist.â
In Afghanistan the key to persuading the âupset brothersâ to put down their weapons is to give them a way to return safely to society with their heads held high, officials said. âPeople are looking for a way to change sides, to turn back to legitimacy, but they have to do it in a way that guarantees their safety, [allows them] to return with some honor, and there has to be a way to make a living,â said a senior ISAF official.
Doing this will require the Afghan government and the coalition to create localized solutions for every community where insurgents are interested in coming in from the cold, Kolenda said.
âIf we can create dynamics within communities ⦠where you have social, economic, political opportunity that is tailored to the needs of that local community, youâre going to create a significant amount of attraction for people to come back into that community and lead a peaceful and productive life as a part of it because theyâve got opportunities that are relevant to them,â he said, adding that creating these opportunities will also help persuade those Afghans who are sitting on the fence to support the government and coalition efforts.
