CHOWKAY DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Sprinkled among the Afghan tribal elders at a recent security meeting in the Chowkay district center were several Taliban insurgents. Their presence was meant as a form of intimidation. They blended into the meeting, making it difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Over the past month, the elders had received threatening letters at night, and the area had seen an increase in the number of roadside bombs, all meant to frighten those in the village.
But none of that had stopped the elders from agreeing to listen to Afghan government officials, backed by U.S. Special Forces soldiers, who were proposing to bring local Afghan police into their villages.
It had taken roughly nine months for U.S. Special Operations Forces, working with Afghan officials, to put together this meeting, which was attended by roughly 150 villagers, elders and government officials. Security, including air cover from American fighter-bombers, guarded against an insurgent attack.
As the U.S. military prepares to leave Afghanistan by 2014, the program to have Afghan police trained by American Special Operations Forces becomes crucial.
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, head of the CIA and former commander in Afghanistan, told the U.S. Senate earlier this year that the program was “arguably the most critical element in our effort to help Afghanistan develop the capability to secure itself.”
Those on the ground here see it the same say. And they know that it is now or never to make the program work.
“I don’t think the U.S., the coalition, or the Afghans are going to get another opportunity,” said a U.S. Special Forces major. “We’re not going to get a second chance, so how do we do it right?”
Afghan officials say they are also committed to making the program succeed.
“This [local police initiative] is one of the most important programs in maintaining the future stability of Afghanistan,” Brig. Gen. Ali Shah Ahmadzai, told The Washington Examiner.
“However, there are people on the inside of the government and on the outside that want to sabotage the program,” he said. “We will not let that happen — the future of Afghanistan depends on it.”
The Afghan local police have drawn criticism. In early September, Human Rights Watch issued a report, quoting villagers in three provinces accusing the police of killings, rapes and unnecessary detentions.
American Special Forces officers note that some of those charges are two years old, but acknowledge that there are significant challenges in making the Afghan police a trusted force.
First, those involved in the program have to erase the perception that the local police are just another militia group like those that have abused and terrorized villagers.
American Special Forces soldiers, living in the villages and working to train the police are seen as the key to the program’s success.
Green Berets should arrive to reinforce the Special Forces troops in Chow Kay District by “early November,” said Maj. Mike Garcia, spokesman for Task Force East. That will help in vetting candidates and conducting weapons training.
At the meeting, village elders claimed that they wanted the Afghan police to keep this district near Pakistan from being controlled by insurgents, and falling into turmoil.
“It’s the hope of all Afghanistan that the villagers think beyond their tribal ties and remember that they are fighting for a nation,” Ahmadzai said. “It is important that all the sacrifices made on both sides were not in vain: To remember that we are fighting for our survival, our country.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
