U.S. general praises Canada's 'model village' as good counter-insurgency
Published Thursday June 25th, 2009
DEH-E BAGH, Afghanistan - Canada's "model village" approach is an impressive example of the counter-insurgency strategy of winning over Afghans rather than simply trying to blast the Taliban into submission, the new commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan said Thursday.
During a visit to Deh-e Bagh just south of Kandahar city, Gen. Stanley McChrystal also said that limiting civilian casualties is vital to the success of the military intervention, even if it means more blood spilled among allied forces, at least in the short term.
"This is a thinking man's effort," McChrystal said.
"Counter-insurgency requires a tremendous amount of maturity. Sometimes you have to fight, and fight hard; but more you win by convincing the people that you're there for them."
The general, who took his post last week, enters the fray at a critical pre-election period in which Taliban attacks have increased to all-time highs.
The command change also comes at a time of intense criticism - both from within Afghanistan and internationally - of U.S. air strikes that have killed scores of civilians.
The backlash has prompted McChrystal to come up with new orders to limit civilian casualties by, for example, breaking off fighting under certain circumstances in order to spare innocent bystanders.
"Nothing we do will be perfect up front, because it's a war and we're fighting a foe that often uses civilians as human shields in front of them," the general said.
"But we are going to make every effort to get down through our forces the concept that, in reality, a tactical victory - sometimes going after the Taliban or another insurgent - isn't as important as the long-term strategic victory you get by winning over the people."
Persuading Afghans to support their central government as well as the international effort to do the same is "more powerful than any round we can shoot," McChrystal said.
"When you win over the people, that cuts down the numbers of insurgents, it cuts down things like IEDs."
The commander conceded the new rules might mean more casualties for the international forces in the near term and some insurgents who otherwise would be killed or captured might escape.
On-the-ground commanders will have to weigh the situation carefully and make the "tough call" before acting, he said.
"When you win over the people, that cuts down the numbers of insurgents, it cuts down things like IEDs."
Canadian Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, top commander in Kandahar province, said the impact of the tighter rules of engagement would have no impact on Canadian forces.
"We don't create a lot of collateral damage," Vance said. "It's just how we do things."
Following a 40-minute meeting that also included a top Dutch general, McChrystal and Vance accompanied the governor of Kandahar on a walk outside the fortified Dand district centre as part of Canada's showcasing the Deh-e Bagh village effort.
As if on cue, villagers mobbed the dignitaries, and McChrystal seemed delighted to engage some of them in chit-chat that mostly included asking children if they were in school.
He also ventured into a small store opposite a newly built village square that sports a spiffy wooden bench and eight solar-powered street lights.
The Canadian-financed work in Deh-e Bagh, including reconstruction of the bomb-damaged district centre and a nearby irrigation canal, has been done by locally hired Afghans working under Canadian military supervision.
Vance was equally happy with how the initiative has fared.
"This is counter-insurgency," Vance said.
"In the town of Deh-e Bagh, the insurgents mean nothing. They're irrelevant. What we need to do is just spread that more and more."
McChrystal, too, said he hoped the "model village" would be replicated throughout the country.
He also appeared to indicate some concern with Canada's decision to end its combat role by 2011.
"I hope we would be here long enough - all of us - until the country of Afghanistan could do it by itself."
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