CDS in discussion with a tribal leader.
By Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
MA'SUM GHAR, Afghanistan - A series of small tactical triumphs in the ongoing effort to win the support of the Afghan people is fostering a domino effect that will eventually help push the Taliban from the volatile battlegrounds of southern Afghanistan, Canada's top soldier predicted Friday.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk spent three days meeting with troops in Kandahar and getting updates on the progress being made in the regions where Canadian soldiers have been fighting. His presence was kept secret until now for security reasons.
In the district of Dand, outside Kandahar city, Natynczyk toured Deh-e-Bagh - the village that's home to the coalition experiment known as the 'model village,' where tribal elders rejected the Taliban and asked for help from Canada and the provincial government.
NATO forces concentrated their efforts on ensuring the security of the village and on resurrecting the local economy in the hopes of convincing residents once and for all that their best course of action was to support the coalition and not insurgent forces.
We have seen and we have noticed a vast improvement in the security and also a good improvement in the economy of some of the village people, said district chief Ahamadullah Nazak as he and Natynczyk sat on an ornate bench near the village.
The economy is growing day by day and it's directly affecting the security, because if they have a good economy, you are helping the government security.
Deh-e-Bagh is the centrepiece of the Canadian counter-insurgency strategy in Kandahar province, where troops have been battling the Taliban since 2006 and jealously guarding Kandahar city, prized by the insurgents for their traditional base of support there.
Dand, which lies just south of the city, is also along the rat line used by insurgents to travel into town from Taliban strongholds in the districts to the west, such as Panjwaii, the widely acknowledged birthplace of the Taliban and a well-known insurgent stronghold.
Dand is lush and prosperous by Afghan standards. Three children on bicycles watched the visitors with interest while the two men sat under a nearby tree sharing tea.
In the Dand case, we had such overwhelming support - 250 tribal leaders came together and signed a manifesto indicating they wanted to reject the Taliban, Natynczyk said this past week in an interview with The Canadian Press.
As a result of that, we were able to put (in) a lot of investment and create basically hundreds of jobs over a long period of time. Now what we're hearing is other districts are approaching (the International Security Assistance Force) ... and saying, 'We want to be the next area.'
It is Natynczyk's hope that as more regions sign on to the model, the insurgents will eventually be pushed out of southern Afghanistan.
We realize that an insurgency requires the support of the people, Natynczyk said.
If the people wish to support an alternative better lifestyle, a future with better hope, a future where their kids can get an education, people can get medical care and a job - then they will reject the Taliban.
Prosperity in the Dand district, however, has made it a target for insurgents. There have been a number of Taliban attacks and the finishing touches have just been completed on the rebuilding of the bombed-out district centre.
In the days of the Russian occupation, Dand was a stronghold of the mujahedeen - the motley coalition of fighters that comprised the Afghan resistance. Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001, people in the region threw their support behind the newly established interim government, Nazak said.
Areas considered pro-government are frequent targets of attack. A suicide bomber blew himself up less than a kilometre from the forward operating base in Ma'sum Ghar, injuring a number of Afghan National Police and civilians. But the risks are worth the rewards, Natynczyk said.
If we can move this model along and keep on expanding the footprint in terms of the projects, in terms of the employment, what you're actually doing is providing that hope in those regions, he said.
The Taliban do not want the people to hope. The Taliban just represent destruction.
Hopefully the words of the CDS will be fruitfull in winning the hearts and minds of the oppressed people of Afghanistan.
Please give a thought or a prayer daily for our troops.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
