A.Rafay
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LAHORE: As the US military drawdown in Afghanistan continues, and the foreign aircraft that supplied remote outposts depart, Afghan troops manning these posts have found an ancient solution: the plodding, dutiful animals that have navigated these high and frigid mountain passes for centuries, the Washington Post reports.
Before US forces arrived here in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the instruments of war were rudimentary things: mud-brick outposts and aging Kalashnikovs. The American invasion brought with it a shiny arsenal of 21st-century technology, including advanced helicopters to navigate the treacherous landscape.
But with the military drawdown, the sky is emptying of the foreign aircraft that have kept remote outposts stocked with food, water and weaponry. Afghan troops are being handed the outposts, but not the sleek helicopters that have soared overhead, delivering supplies. Donkeys are the Afghan helicopter, the Post quotes Col Abdul Nasseeri, an Afghan battalion commander in Konar province, as saying. The report says hundreds of donkeys are already sustaining the bases that Americans built, fought to defend and, eventually, left.
With the US choppers on their way out, the donkey trade has risen steadily. The animals, many of which have been redirected from farm labour to military duty, transport everything that soldiers need, from rice to ammunition. But even a solution as seemingly simple and sustainable as donkey supply convoys has become subject to corruption and incompetence, the report says. Just as Afghans are preparing to inherit dozens of bases, all of which will require donkeys for daily or weekly rations, the funding to pay donkey contractors has disappeared. The Afghan armys relatively modern bureaucracy has proven incapable of acquiring even ancient tools. Some contractors, mostly local farmers, havent been paid for more than a year.
In the volatile Pech Valley, where many key strategic outposts have for years been supplied by US aircraft, Qamuddin said he has been waiting nine months for payment. Hes thinking about quitting. We need more water! Afghan Col Ashraf yelled when Qamuddin arrived at the outpost with his donkeys last week. Well, then I need a new contract! Qamuddin is quoted as replying. For their part, US advisers have devoted much of their time to solving the problem of the unpaid donkey contractors an unexpected puzzle for military leaders typically focused on the machinations of modern warfare.
Some American military advisers acknowledge the irony of being deployed to one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan only to negotiate donkey contracts. But the Donkey Problem, as it has become known in some US military circles, has prompted much ire and urgency because a failure to solve it could result in a paralysis of operations at key outposts. If you lose the outposts, the Taliban have an open door to walk right in, Washington Post quotes Sgt Travis Washington, part of the US military advisory team in Konar.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Before US forces arrived here in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the instruments of war were rudimentary things: mud-brick outposts and aging Kalashnikovs. The American invasion brought with it a shiny arsenal of 21st-century technology, including advanced helicopters to navigate the treacherous landscape.
But with the military drawdown, the sky is emptying of the foreign aircraft that have kept remote outposts stocked with food, water and weaponry. Afghan troops are being handed the outposts, but not the sleek helicopters that have soared overhead, delivering supplies. Donkeys are the Afghan helicopter, the Post quotes Col Abdul Nasseeri, an Afghan battalion commander in Konar province, as saying. The report says hundreds of donkeys are already sustaining the bases that Americans built, fought to defend and, eventually, left.
With the US choppers on their way out, the donkey trade has risen steadily. The animals, many of which have been redirected from farm labour to military duty, transport everything that soldiers need, from rice to ammunition. But even a solution as seemingly simple and sustainable as donkey supply convoys has become subject to corruption and incompetence, the report says. Just as Afghans are preparing to inherit dozens of bases, all of which will require donkeys for daily or weekly rations, the funding to pay donkey contractors has disappeared. The Afghan armys relatively modern bureaucracy has proven incapable of acquiring even ancient tools. Some contractors, mostly local farmers, havent been paid for more than a year.
In the volatile Pech Valley, where many key strategic outposts have for years been supplied by US aircraft, Qamuddin said he has been waiting nine months for payment. Hes thinking about quitting. We need more water! Afghan Col Ashraf yelled when Qamuddin arrived at the outpost with his donkeys last week. Well, then I need a new contract! Qamuddin is quoted as replying. For their part, US advisers have devoted much of their time to solving the problem of the unpaid donkey contractors an unexpected puzzle for military leaders typically focused on the machinations of modern warfare.
Some American military advisers acknowledge the irony of being deployed to one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan only to negotiate donkey contracts. But the Donkey Problem, as it has become known in some US military circles, has prompted much ire and urgency because a failure to solve it could result in a paralysis of operations at key outposts. If you lose the outposts, the Taliban have an open door to walk right in, Washington Post quotes Sgt Travis Washington, part of the US military advisory team in Konar.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
