Kibble – The New American Afghan Strategy in OBAMA’s War

I read today that one of the reasons that Afghanistan progress has slowed or reversed is because Americans and allies have failed to follow through on promises to insurgents that if they convert from supporting Taliban to aligning with the Afghan government they will receive certain rewards that I call kibble. They could receive 1) a paid job working for the government, and 2) a parcel of land. This sounds remotely familiar like 1) a mule and 2) forty acres.

Trouble is, the promises are not kept. So, in one case an insurgent with a family of ten who went down the road of switching from Taliban to government is now hiding himself and his family of ten, huddling in a blanket to keep warm in the Afghan winter. How in the hell is he going to survive without the promise being met?

He is expected to live on the American promise. Does this too sound remotely familiar? You will receive 1) affordable healthcare, 2) a job, and 3) you will pay for this as soon as we end the wars in the Middle East. Yes, right.

[q url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302263.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR\]

“Afghan promises to insurgents often empty

Incentives to fighters to switch sides are key to U.S. plan

By Griff Witte

Monday, December 14, 2009

JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN -- His path marked by moonlight, with a Kalashnikov strapped to his back, Feda Mohammed hiked the well-worn trail through the mountains of Pakistan and into Afghanistan. He had traveled the route dozens of times before to attack U.S. soldiers. But this time, Mohammed was on a secret mission to surrender.

Lured to quit the insurgency by the government's promise of a job, land for his family and an end to the misery of fighting, Mohammed illustrated the hope of the top U.S. commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, for ultimately bringing about an end to the eight-year-old war. Programs to reintegrate former fighters into Afghan society, and perhaps even turn them against their brothers in the insurgency, are at the core of the Obama administration's new strategy.

Yet Mohammed's experience offers a cautionary tale: Four months after he gave himself up, the Afghan government has reneged on all its commitments, leaving him unemployed and his family of 10 with nowhere to live. Hunted by the Taliban and fearful of the U.S. military, he spends much of his time in hiding.

In a war in which everyone must pick a side, Mohammed regrets his choice.

"I'm stuck," he said one day last week, huddled beneath a tattered blanket to ward off the winter chill. "I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go."” [/q]