U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Aldridge looks over a cliff as he provides security while his fellow soldiers, Afghan National Army soldiers and U.S. Air Force airmen of the 755th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit move to an enemy weapons cache point on the side of a mountain in Mandikowl, Afghanistan, on Dec. 23, 2006. Aldridge is with the10th Mountain Division's Special Troops Battalion. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Marcus J. Quarterman, U.S. Army. (Released)What If Afghans Will Not Defend Themselves? -- Westhawk
It is hard to believe that the idea of local self-defense is controversial inside Afghanistan. Yet if this article from the Los Angeles Times is any indication, Afghans ranging from local villagers to provincial leaders to officials in the Interior Ministry still have not formulated a concept for allowing villages and tribes to organize a defense against either the Taliban or simple criminal gangs. Laura King of the LA Times explains:
Alarmed by the tightening Taliban grip on huge swaths of Afghan countryside, U.S. strategists last year began quietly pushing the idea of using locally recruited tribesmen to protect their villages against an increasingly lethal insurgency.
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My Comment: The evolving Afghan situation reminds me of Vietnam. When reading on the history of Vietnam, there are a number of derogatory remarks from American servicemen on the many South Vietnamese who were not interested to fight against the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army. As the war continued, many South Vietnamese fought bravely against the communists .... but many also did not.
In Iraq, many Iraqis joined into the fight to defeat Al Qaeda, the Saddam Hussein supporters, and extreme Shiite militias. In Afghanistan .... this has not been the case at all. The altitude is .... why fight for a corrupt government when the Americans and Nato are willing to do it. With no stake in the process .... I am not surprise to see this reluctance.
So ..... will the Afghans defend themselves? I think that many will fight to defend themselves .... and even more will not give open support to the Taliban. But to ultimately win the war in Afghanistan, many more Afghans will need to get involved in the military and security fight.