Our allies need to build capabilities for counter-insurgency

Chris

Germany mentioned twice in same list, and although you identify four groups you only discuss three.

Interesting article aside from this as this seems to be a case of people not working well together.

Gareth

Using the number of civilians as a metric for COIN effectiveness is a wee bit simplistic. There are civilian contractors who cannot get out and about because it is too dangerous so their vital roles are not getting done. Or if they are able to get out and about it is only after striking deals with militias and paying protection money.

A quick and dirty answer to this conundrum (that civilians don't have the security they need and militaries aren't getting the civilian support on construction and administration) is to deploy military administrators and military engineers. They can both run and build things and protect themselves from attack. It gets the infrastructures up and running, doesn't supply the militias with funding and does allow troops to fight the enemy *if the enemy decides to attack*.

The benefit of this from a NATO perspective would be NATO Governments could sell the strategy of one of school n hospital building, sending more people and equipment into the region without the solely offensive nature of regular combat troops that many Governments seem to find distasteful. That is surely a deft political solution to a failing Afghan adventure.

For whatever reason the modern armies of the world have largely abandoned armed engineers and armed administrations in favour of trying to create secure space for civilian affairs to take the lead.(Except for building their own bases and the like) What is failing in Afghanistan is that the military cannot provide the secure space therefore few advances in administration and infrastructure can be made. The answer is perhaps not simply 'more troops, more fighting' to continue failing to create the secure space but rely more on armed forces to do the roles the civilians can't do because they would be in too much peril.

The army doesn't need to be just be for fighting but the politicians and Top Brass have decided that is all it can do.

Andy

I see Germany appears twice in your list of countries training counter-insurgents - are they doubly efficient?

Golur

If we are talking particularly about Afghanistan then the situation is simply not safe in most of the Country for civilians. I've not long returned from working there, as a civilian, and there are enormous overheads involved - guarding of personnel. secure accommodation, etc. All are very expensive, and take funding away from where it should be spent - i.e. locally. For example, two "Development Advisers" are needed for each location if there is to be one one the ground at a time, as a combination of leave and the lack of transport (Helicopters) mean it can take several days to go a few miles. Add to that the fact that DfID/Stabilisation Unit insists that all DevAds are guarded by civilian contract guards - who do not come cheap - and the costs mount up, even before you step out of the gate (not that we can go out of the gate in many places, of course).

Good idea, but in Southern Afghanistan at least we are a long, long way away from a situation wherein civilian advisers could be of much assistance.

Count Meout

You use the first person a great deal - "our", "we", etc. Can you define who you mean by this?

Noa Zrk

As a nation we in the UK have yet to deploy our elite forces in this harsh and demanding environment. Why does the core of Equality and Human Rights Commission workers remain here when they are so manifestly needed in Helmand Province to reinforce our hard pressed infantry?
Womens' and Gay rights have been identified as key issues to be addressed here, and even more so there. Discrimination on religious grounds must be promptly and seriously addressed. Equal pay for equal work is such a no no in Sanguin, and we are doing nothing about it! Harriet Harman is my favourite candidate for my bitch of the week hissy fit for her hypocritcal inadequacy on this major issue and I will not rest until we bring equality to this beautiful, benighted but ever so backwardly macho land. "Is it coz they is muslim?"

porkbelly

Italy needs to be recognized for its unique method of ladling out cash to the Taleban in return for leaving its well-coiffed troops alone. They need to expand on this approach by bringing over some of their experienced civilian experts from Naples, Bari and Palermo...once Taleban militants begin disappearing one by one only to be found hanging in a meat locker, buried in a bridge abutment, ground into spicy sausage, etc. we would see real progress on the ground. Surely Berlusconi has some...acquaintances...he could ring up?

davidke

I've been a dev expert for 30 years, but I always turn down Afghan. The pay is miserable, the security provided is a joke, the comms are pathetic. And the dev projects are mostly worthless and doomed to failure.

The Foxhole Atheist

@porkbelly: An very interesting point: 'How would the mafia do an occupation?' was addressed by William Lind in 2003-04 in his 'Fourth Generation Warfare' seminars in the context of Iraq. As an exercise in the application or threat of force, organised crime might well have some use in Afghanistan.