Training the Afghan Police

Well, they did not put my piece about the Balkh poppy free history in the weekkt CNAT report. My senior IA did not make it entirely clear why, except that they are not in total agreement that Governor Attah is the champion that my piece makes him out to be, and that some think Balkh is now growing a lot of Cannibus. Some think the governor is just a Warlord who imposes his will by force. It is probably not too unfair to characterize him as a Worlord but , in my opinion, his success is more due to his being a talented politician and leader than due to any exercise of force.  As to the Cannibus, it is harder to detect, but there seems to be sparce evidence as to the extent that it is being grown.  Even if it's growth is extensive, it is not dismissive of the fact that the province is poppy free.  Anyway, in my opinion, the success of the province (and the Governor)should be studied. Enough about that.

It is getting warm in Northern Afghanistan. The last few days in Mazar have been close to 120 F. Not quite touching the 120 line whenever I looked but just below it. 118 or 119 for sure – hot enough! They tell me there will be days in July that reach 130.

The amount of aid being poured into this country is mind boggling. There is a large military presence here and most of the “surge” troops still to come. It may be, however, that the civilian contractors outnumber the troops – I do not know that the is true, but it would not surprise me. Probably 80% of the contractors work “inside the wire.” That is, they work within a protected compound like the Regional Training Center, where my live-in CONEX is located, or like the Provincial Reconstruction Center (PRT) where the military aid personnel are organized. A few, like me and the other CNAT IA’s work “outside the wire” – doing things out in the towns and countryside and returning to the security of the large protected compound at night (some of the IA’s, though, live outside the wire too). A very few, such a some “imbedded” police trainers (imbedded within a military police training organization) will spend a few days at a time at the work site of their trainees – some even sleeping in tents at those sites. As I mentioned parenthetically above, some of the CNAT IA’s, and a few others live in their own little compounds outside the large military structures – “outside the wire.” They have their own security guards, cooks, maintenance persons, etc.

Anyway, those who both live and work inside the wire are the most comfortable and secure. The level of training (and to some extent, aid) accomplishment, however, almost certainly goes up in proportion to the amount of time spent at the work sites of the Afghans. None of us are achieving a high level of accomplishment, however. It is very complicated and expensive to feed, house, provide work space, and provide security for contractors. The more secure and comfortable it is, the more it costs. As I said, the level of actual achievement almost certainly goes up in some proportion to the time spent at the Afghan work sites, but security becomes more complicated and personal hardship goes up. Dyncorp studied the possibility of having some police trainers, that are presently going to the Afghan sites three or four times a week, spend a few full days now and then out at the police work stations (like the embedded trainers with the military). They (Dyncorp) concluded that they would loose too many experienced trainers to make it worth while. Not a kind cometary on the work ethic of the trainers, but probably a realistic assessment. Don’t get me wrong, most of the police training goes on in an Academy setting which is, of course, at a central secure location like the RTC. But a fair amount also goes on at the Afghan work sites and most (not all) of that is happening for about 3 - 4 hours a day 2 - 4 days per week. As far as I have been able to determine, the few guys who live and work outside the wire are paid the same as those who just go out from time to time.

There are plenty of military guys training and mentorning Afghan police too. They are the best bargain we have, cost wise. Most of them are not MP’s and have no police experience, but they usually have a police advisor, and they seem to do OK. I used to think that having soldiers serving as police was a mistake. I still think it would be in a developed country – being a warrior and being a cop require different attitudes and different organizational cultures (though soldiering in the US military seems to be moving toward a “above all, do no harm to non combatants” policy – and here the German soldiers can hardly kill the insurgents that attack them, let alone seek them out tp exterminate). In places like Afghanistan, however, policing is pretty much a para military venture, and soldiers as police may work fairly well.  By the way, I hear the miltary is actually considering a new medal for the exercise of restraint in a combat situation -- no kidding.

I am in Kabul now, on my way to the USA for a couple weeks. I’ll get back here just a few days before the contract ends. I plan to go on to Thailand then. Meanwhile, I’ll see some of you at the Newman family reunion on the 18th.