Painting a moving train, Kandahar diary

14 oktober 2010

Kandahar blog 14 October 2010

Painting a moving train

We get up at five and make our way to the airport. After a breakfast with freshly made eggs, pancakes with maple syrup in the army canteen at Kabul ISAF airport we fly in a military transport plane to Kandahar. There is a buzz of activity and a sense of excitement  in the air. This is where things are happening.

At Kandahar airbase we are explained the military campaign plan with a meticulous powerpoint presentation. We are “initiating” to “gain the initiative” in the “stabilization phase” of the counterinsurgency operation. The military situation has shifted in our favor. The Taliban are on the run. Villages and valleys are getting cleared of insurgents. Taliban are captured or killed. The big challenge: sustaining the military gains. A credible government connected to the people that delivers security and basic services, is the key to success. “If we are able to deliver, we can hold an area.”

The military is convinced that this time the strategy will work. “Prior to 2009, we brought nothing but death and destruction” one commander says. Now it is different. “The level of force is up, the Taliban are on the defensive while civilian casualties remain the same.” Good statistics but what are Afghans in Marja, Kandahar and Argendab thinking about these stepped-up military operations, I keep wondering. After all, counterinsurgency is about the perception of the people and many of these Talibs are their own sons. Do the villagers perceive us to be winning and serving their needs? It is hard to find out. We cannot ask the villagers in the areas that have been cleared of Taliban or in Kandahar city. We cannot freely walk around. The situation is too dangerous. We are confined to Kandahar airbase. We fly by Blackhawk helicopter to the Canadian-American Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) on the outskirts of the city.

In the PRT we meet the representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), a Pashtun-speaking Tadjik from Tasjkent. On the one hand the population is happy to see decisive action against the Taliban. On the other hand, the UN receive complaints about civilian casualties, use of land by NATO without compensation, damage to property caused by military operations and the lack of justice and (good) governance. People feel left out of the process and don’t know about the plans of the government. The UN tries to address complaints, listen to the people and provide answers. “If there are no answers, they can go to the Taliban or the Taliban comes to them.” I am impressed by the work performed by the UN. Being an intermediary between the people and the government, between the ISAF and an angry population is an extremely dangerous task. The UN is a crucial partner in the counterinsurgency strategy.

We also meet with a district stabilization team: foreign men and women who live among the population in an area has been cleared of Taliban. It is hard to imagine that they actually do. They speak the local language and address the needs of the population. They also monitor and assess the situation. They recognize that the Taliban are incredibly resilient. Though they suffer “horrendous casualties”, they come back from in and outside the area. It is clear to me that there is a big gap between the story in Kabul and the complexities of the reality on the ground. 

A Blackhawk takes us back to Kandahar airfield where we spend the night. On the way, we land and pick up a captive. He is blindfolded and sits on the floor of the helicopter, clearly scared.  He kisses the hands of the Canadian soldier who escorts him. The soldier gently pushes the man away. Later he explains that the man is blindfolded so he isn’t scared being in a helicopter for the first time.  I awake from the meeting room reality. Seeing a prisoner, one of those captured in the clearing operations, is a harsh reality check.

That night we take a scroll in Kandahar airbase, looking for some wifi or internet café. While helicopters and F-16s are flying overhead to provide air support to nightly kill or capture raids, we stroll a boulevard of pizzajoints, burgerkings, Afghan souvernirshops and coffeeshops with fresh capuchino’s. It is a warzone but surreal.