Thursday, January 24, 2008

Hearts and Minds


In the past couple of weeks I have traveled a few times and have had a chance to see a little more of the country. One particular flight was by helicopter through some of the mountainous regions of the country. Here, the mountains can only be described as majestic with their snow-peaked caps and valleys below. At times we flew quite low over the ground and twisted through the valleys below allowing the mountains to appear to us at each new turn. Although the sight was breathtaking, it was sad to think that a country with so much natural beauty is plagued by decades of war limiting the enjoyment of the land.

As we approached the Airfield, I was amazed to see the tiny towns and communities that lay just beyond the outer perimeter. No more than a few dozen homes per community, they are all made of mud-walled huts giving them a very distinctive look from above. An outer mud wall also surrounds each town to protect it from the outside world. I couldn’t help but think of the symbolism – each town is much like Afghanistan – cut off from the outside world and still living in the middle ages.

It is interesting to think that only a few hundred meters from the outer perimeter there are local Afghans who go about their daily lives and yet, inside the wire – only a moment’s journey away – are many coalition soldiers who are most likely unaware of their presence. For the most part, many deployed personnel will never leave the confines of the Airfield. Unless their job requires them to travel outside the wire, they are not generally permitted to venture out for security reasons. Although, this makes sense, it is still interesting to think that the majority of coalition forces who are deployed to Afghanistan will not have the opportunity to interact with the very people that they are trying to help – despite the fact that they are little more than a stone’s throw away.

Winning an insurgency war requires militaries to interact with the local population. Insurgents do not wear uniforms, they do not fight using conventional methods and our traditional methods of gathering intelligence and information are not as useful as in conventional warfare. Instead, we must interact with the local population. We must win their hearts and minds. We must convince them that our presence is not only necessary for their safety and security but that we are there to improve their daily lives. Without their help our goals will be much harder to achieve.

There are several ways to do this. It is not only done by soldiers who provide security but it also requires monetary assistance, development and governance. It is boots on the ground working each day with local officials to provide resources that are so desperately needed. It is what our government refers to as the 3D approach – defence, diplomacy and development. And it all must be provided in a coordinated fashion - development cannot succeed without security.

There is no shortage of commentators or officials who claim to be experts at how to properly coordinate our efforts and where our focus should be. And, in fact, our politicians continue to debate this very issue almost daily. Although we each have our own opinions on this matter, whether they are informed or not, this is not the place where I would like to share mine. I simply choose to end with the thought that if our goal is to bring Afghanistan out of the middle ages and into a time where towns no longer need to be defended by walls we must work with the Afghans to determine what is best for their country, not decide for them.

Friday, January 11, 2008

All Quiet on the Western Front


This past week I had the chance to visit the frontlines in southern Afghanistan where much of the battles are taking place. About 40 km west of Kandahar is an area that is well known to be a haven for Taliban fighters. There are many Canadian and Afghan soldiers deployed in the region and they often encounter Taliban resistance on an all too frequent basis.

Required to travel to the district to speak with Canadian soldiers on the ground, I made my way by road as a part of a re-supply convoy. The drive out was an uneventful one, yet it was an interesting experience in itself to witness the countryside and the required journey through Kandahar City. Convoys through the countryside are common and locals are well versed in the necessary actions to take when faced with an approaching convoy. Due to the high risk of potential suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices that are planted on the side of the road, the convoys move at a quick pace. They own the road as they travel. On the front and back of almost every vehicle is a prominent red sign instructing all vehicles to pull over to the shoulder of the road when a convoy is approaching and to maintain a safe distance. Any vehicle that gets too close is considered as a security threat and is given the necessary warnings to back off. After several years of convoy drills, most vehicles are quick to comply. It is an impressive sight to see every vehicle pull over to the shoulder road as we pass by. It reminds me of Moses parting the Red Sea.

Once we arrived at the forward camp, the first thing that caught my attention was the landscape. The small camp that I visited was on the slope of a large mountain giving it a vantage point overlooking the entire valley that is stretched out below. The land was completely flat except for the several mountains that almost shoot up directly out of the ground as if to create a wall around the entire valley. Also, despite the fact that the valley itself was made of fertile land dotted with some sparse vegetation, the mountain itself was completely barren and looked as though what one would expect to see on the planet Mars. It was nothing more than red and gray rock and gravel without so much as a single blade of grass making its way through the earth.

Aside from the lay of the land, it was remarkable to experience the living conditions that the soldiers deployed on the frontlines experience on a daily basis. There are no creature comforts that those who live at the Airfield are accustomed to. One must walk around at all times in protective helmet and vest, indoor washrooms do not exist, sleeping quarters are nothing more than large protective cement blocks stacked one on another and the small cramped workspaces and command posts are all located underground. It is exactly as one would imagine a similar compound to be during World War II.

For many soldiers, this is how they spend their entire deployment, only venturing into the Airfield once every several weeks to take a break from the front lines and enjoy a bit of down time. For these soldiers that live and work on the frontlines, I can only imagine that time must pass by slowly. But, such is the life of a deployed soldier. Most of their time is spent trying to find ways to pass the time until that moment when they are called into action. I have heard it described as periods of prolonged boredom intermixed with short periods of intense action. It is a life of complete contrast within only a few seconds. In my view, these soldiers that spend their time on the frontlines live with deprivation, they live with risk and they live in a hostile environment with the enemy around them on all sides. In my view, these are the true heroes of this fight.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Where Osama Lived

A few kilometers south of the Kandahar Airfield is a place known as Tarnak Farms. Although this place is now used as a weapons range, it is a place that has a colorful history and a bit of notoriety for a couple of reasons. Today, there is not much to see there. It is a large expansive area in the middle of the desert and if you were to stand there, you wouldn’t think too much of it. There are mountains off in the distance on almost all sides that look quite spectacular when lit up by the morning or late afternoon sun, but apart from that it is a barren and isolated place.

Perhaps it is this isolation that made it such an attractive locale over a decade ago when Osama bin Laden built a rather large compound there to house himself and many of his top lieutenants. It was here that the plan to hijack commercial airliners and crash them into prominent American landmarks began to form. In exile from both his homeland, Saudi Arabia, and the Sudan, bin Laden sought refuge in the one place where he was once revered as an icon. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, bin Laden was a key financial supporter in the jihad against the Soviets. This, along with the fact that he shared many of his beliefs with the Taliban, who were just coming into power at the time, made Afghanistan an ideal place to find sanctuary while carrying out his plans to target the west.

By this point in his life, bin Laden was a well known threat to American interests and an entire department within the CIA was dedicated to tracking his movements and determining the best way to neutralize the threat posed by him. While living in Afghanistan, the CIA monitored bin Laden very closely and he, of course, was well aware of this. In order to reduce his chances of detection and being targeted, bin Laden moved around the countryside every few hours. Although Tarnak Farms was central to his operation, it was but only one place where he could be found.

But, with millions of dollars spent on finding him, eventually bin Laden would be found. In 1998, bin Laden was positively identified as being present at Tarnak Farms and the process of seeking the necessary approvals for a missile strike were set into motion. It is believed that the decision to fire rested with Clinton, then President of the United States. Discussions were held as to the potential civilian casualties that may be caused should the compound be targeted, as several families of Al Qaida’s top lieutenants also lived at Tarnak Farms. With the Monica Lewinsky scandal in high gear and Clinton appearing on national television to apologize for his indiscretions, the decision was taken to cancel the strike. It was thought that too many civilian casualties was not something that the current administration could shoulder given the current state of affairs. Tarnak Farms remained in tact until the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Only then was Tarnak Farms reduced to rubble.

Then, as coalition forces moved into the neighboring Kandahar Airfield, Tarnak Farms presented an ideal spot to set up as a practice range for various types of weapons. Shortly thereafter, in April of 2002, members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry were conducting a night fire shoot at Tarnak Farms with a combination of small arms and anti-tank weapons. Two American jets flying overhead mistook the fire below for enemy fire and although the proper clearances were not granted, one of the pilots declared self-defence and released a bomb that killed the first four Canadians in Afghanistan. This incident received wide media coverage as the pilot responsible for the incident maintained that his actions were justified throughout the ensuing legal processes that continued for several years.

Although now, it is nothing more than a barren patch of desert, Tarnak Farms has a historical importance that most are probably unaware. It has had a significant impact on the lives of few, but holds a significance that is much larger for all. Of course, it is easy to look back in hindsight and wonder what may have been, or more accurately, what may not have been had a different course of action been taken a few years ago. But one cannot help but let these thoughts enter your mind when you stare out into the emptiness knowing that the world’s most wanted fugitive launched his plan that was to change the world only a few hundred meters from where you stand.