Using jobs to lure Taliban


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At least they are starting to understand the power of employment.

Too bad they haven’t figured out how to do it in local currency.

Wonder how this will sell politically to unemployed voters here in the States:

Afghans Offer Jobs to Taliban Rank and File if They Defect

The meeting is part of a battlefield push to lure local fighters and commanders away from the Taliban by offering them jobs in development projects that Afghan tribal leaders help select, paid by the American military and the Afghan government.

By enlisting the tribal leaders to help choose the development projects, the Americans also hope to help strengthen both the Afghan government and the Pashtun tribal networks.

These efforts are focusing on rank-and-file Taliban; while there are some efforts under way to negotiate with the leaders of the main insurgent groups, neither American nor Afghan officials have much faith that those talks will succeed soon.

Afghanistan has a long history of fighters switching sides — sometimes more than once. Still, efforts so far to persuade large numbers of Taliban fighters to give up have been less than a complete success. To date, about 9,000 insurgents have turned in their weapons and agreed to abide by the Afghan Constitution, said Muhammad Akram Khapalwak, the chief administrator for the Peace and Reconciliation Commission in Kabul.

But in an impoverished country ruined by 30 years of war, tribal leaders said that many more insurgents would happily put down their guns if there was something more worthwhile to do.

“Most of the Taliban in my area are young men who need jobs,” said Hajji Fazul Rahim, a leader of the Abdulrahimzai tribe, which spans three eastern provinces. “We just need to make them busy. If we give them work, we can weaken the Taliban.”


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Obama sends 17,000 troops to Afghanistan


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One more thing his anti war supports told me was just pre-election talk that’s actually happening.

Feels more like the Carter administration every day.

Obama Sends 17,000 Additional Soldiers to Afghanistan

by Edwin Chen and Roger Runningen

Feb 17 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama signed an order boosting U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan by 17,000 combat and support personnel.

Obama said in a statement that he approved a request for the additional soldiers and Marines made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military commanders.

“This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires,” Obama said in the statement released by the White House.

Pentagon officials were informed of the decision yesterday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in Denver, where Obama signed legislation providing $787 billion in tax cuts and spending to stimulate the economy.

The announcement marks the new president’s first significant decision on defense as he seeks to fulfill his campaign promise to shift the focus away from Iraq to Afghanistan as the central front on the battle against terrorists.


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