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BERLANDAY: As Afghan village leader Gul Agha pours another cup of tea for American soldiers sitting under his grape trellis, they get to the point of their visit: they dont want him to quit.
As the US military leads a massive build-up of forces in Kandahar, southern Afghanistans most important battle ground where the outcome of Americas longest war overseas may be decided, the toughest job is knowing who to trust.
When 1st squadron 71st cavalry regiment arrived in the province last month, outgoing Canadian soldiers told them that as an ex-Taliban, the village head was their best source of intelligence on the bombs being laid in their path.
Unfortunately, as they tried to build bridges, Gul Agha quit.
We have no informants right now, were still working on it. We have been here a month, said Lieutenant Joe Theinert, 24.
Theyll eventually come around. They don't know you. They don't trust you when you first arrive, he said.
The fight for Kandahar is seen as crucial to a US strategy to end the nearly nine-year and costly conflict against the Taliban.
In December, US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 extra American troops into Afghanistan, where the vast majority are disembarking in the south, and pushing the total nationwide NATO deployment to 150,000 by August.
The US force in Afghanistan has roughly tripled since Obama took office in January 2009 and at 94,000 has now exceeded the 92,000 based in Iraq.
But public support is dwindling. Obama wants US troops to start leaving from July 2011 and has limited the objective to securing key population centres from the
Taliban and prepping Afghan government forces to take over.
The counter-insurgency doctrine means that in Kandahars Dand district, as in countless areas of Afghanistan, troops are working on security and development in a bid to win over Afghans and leave secure structures in place.
US Captain Jon Villasenor, 36, said the toughest aspect was knowing who to trust on the battlefield of a guerrilla war.
We dont know who the enemy is, he said. I dont feel Im fighting Taliban, I feel Im maybe fighting a criminal element or maybe a disenfranchised element that may be influenced by Taliban.
I wish hed wear a uniform and a name plate that said enemy. Once I understand his motivations and ideology I can target that and leverage that against him.
Until then Im kind of fumbling around, he said.
As Afghan President Hamid Karzai considers opening dialogue with the Taliban ahead of a peace jirga, or national conference of political and community leaders in early June, Villasenor said lower-level fighters are motivated less by ideology than by money and fear.
In Berlanday village, Gul Agha tells the Americans he is on their side, but after reportedly surviving two assassination attempts, repeated beatings and death threats for working with their predecessors, he has had enough.
I promised to support the Americans and Canadians but I havent done that, Gul Agha told Theinert and his sergeants as they drank more tea, their body armour set aside.
There isnt security, they put IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in this village, so I have to stop, he added.
Two days later Theinert receives information that a weapon could be hidden down a well on the property of Gul Aghas brother.
A patrol treads gingerly through vineyards and pomegranate orchards with a metal detector until they find a well and send a soldier down for a fruitless search.
Although the nature of the enemy is unclear, the violence is not.
Despite being one of the safest areas around Kandahar city, Dand has been hit by five bombs and six others have been found in the past seven weeks, according to company commanders leading NATO operations in the area.
In Berlanday, one Canadian soldier was killed last month in a bomb attack that seemed to target an expensive water project being built with Canadian development funds, said Villasenor.
Radio chatter now suggests up to 40 Taliban fighters are coming into the village with ammunition.
Villasenor calls a meeting of his top men to brainstorm their next move, agreeing that continuing to talk over tea is the best step.
The only way to get left of the boom in this fight is intelligence, says First Sergeant Ben Pingel. And the only way to get intelligence is to gain their trust. AFP
DAWN.COM | World | US soldiers ask ?who is the enemy?? in Kandahar
As the US military leads a massive build-up of forces in Kandahar, southern Afghanistans most important battle ground where the outcome of Americas longest war overseas may be decided, the toughest job is knowing who to trust.
When 1st squadron 71st cavalry regiment arrived in the province last month, outgoing Canadian soldiers told them that as an ex-Taliban, the village head was their best source of intelligence on the bombs being laid in their path.
Unfortunately, as they tried to build bridges, Gul Agha quit.
We have no informants right now, were still working on it. We have been here a month, said Lieutenant Joe Theinert, 24.
Theyll eventually come around. They don't know you. They don't trust you when you first arrive, he said.
The fight for Kandahar is seen as crucial to a US strategy to end the nearly nine-year and costly conflict against the Taliban.
In December, US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 extra American troops into Afghanistan, where the vast majority are disembarking in the south, and pushing the total nationwide NATO deployment to 150,000 by August.
The US force in Afghanistan has roughly tripled since Obama took office in January 2009 and at 94,000 has now exceeded the 92,000 based in Iraq.
But public support is dwindling. Obama wants US troops to start leaving from July 2011 and has limited the objective to securing key population centres from the
Taliban and prepping Afghan government forces to take over.
The counter-insurgency doctrine means that in Kandahars Dand district, as in countless areas of Afghanistan, troops are working on security and development in a bid to win over Afghans and leave secure structures in place.
US Captain Jon Villasenor, 36, said the toughest aspect was knowing who to trust on the battlefield of a guerrilla war.
We dont know who the enemy is, he said. I dont feel Im fighting Taliban, I feel Im maybe fighting a criminal element or maybe a disenfranchised element that may be influenced by Taliban.
I wish hed wear a uniform and a name plate that said enemy. Once I understand his motivations and ideology I can target that and leverage that against him.
Until then Im kind of fumbling around, he said.
As Afghan President Hamid Karzai considers opening dialogue with the Taliban ahead of a peace jirga, or national conference of political and community leaders in early June, Villasenor said lower-level fighters are motivated less by ideology than by money and fear.
In Berlanday village, Gul Agha tells the Americans he is on their side, but after reportedly surviving two assassination attempts, repeated beatings and death threats for working with their predecessors, he has had enough.
I promised to support the Americans and Canadians but I havent done that, Gul Agha told Theinert and his sergeants as they drank more tea, their body armour set aside.
There isnt security, they put IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in this village, so I have to stop, he added.
Two days later Theinert receives information that a weapon could be hidden down a well on the property of Gul Aghas brother.
A patrol treads gingerly through vineyards and pomegranate orchards with a metal detector until they find a well and send a soldier down for a fruitless search.
Although the nature of the enemy is unclear, the violence is not.
Despite being one of the safest areas around Kandahar city, Dand has been hit by five bombs and six others have been found in the past seven weeks, according to company commanders leading NATO operations in the area.
In Berlanday, one Canadian soldier was killed last month in a bomb attack that seemed to target an expensive water project being built with Canadian development funds, said Villasenor.
Radio chatter now suggests up to 40 Taliban fighters are coming into the village with ammunition.
Villasenor calls a meeting of his top men to brainstorm their next move, agreeing that continuing to talk over tea is the best step.
The only way to get left of the boom in this fight is intelligence, says First Sergeant Ben Pingel. And the only way to get intelligence is to gain their trust. AFP
DAWN.COM | World | US soldiers ask ?who is the enemy?? in Kandahar
