Get Thomas Jefferson on SATCOM!
I must have slept through this block of instruction in Infantry Officer Advanced Course. Setting up a voter registration site? I don’t really recall any such training in all of the courses that I’ve attended. I studied polysci in college but that was only because it was easy and didn’t interfere with my beer drinking and getting tan. Man, if I’d only know that I was going to need it 20 years later I’d have paid better attention.
I’m standing on a dirt soccer field in front of a school in the northern part of the Goumal district. The school is the only symbol of the centralized government in Kabul, in fact neither the coalition forces or the ANA have even been here in the last two years. The school is simply built, small a couple of rooms; unusable in the winter month because there’s no central heat, heck there’s no decentralized heat. It’s the symbol that Kabul is doing something for the people
The town we’ve come to is very near the Paki border, we can see if from where we’re standing right now. Of course that means they can see us too. This makes all of us at our little gathering nervous. It sits in the bottom of a wadi etched into the Afghan desert by a millennia of water trickling, no river just a trickle, but its left it’s indelible mark.
The school is perched on a small escarpment on the edge of the wadi, easily defensible. This isn’t something that you’d normally use as criteria on where to build a school. But it’s a defining factor here.
Because of our proximity to the border we have CAS circling the area, every 15 minutes or so we have them conduct a show of force our way of saying to anyone who might want to drop by unannounced; that we have a big stick to swing if needed. Later in the day we’ll here the gunfire from another unit closer to the border in contact. Be nice to everyone but have a plan to kill them.
The little shura is discussing the mission that brought us here. Establishing a voter registration site for the town. A discussion has ensued because the town elders decided that the site should be 500 meters to the south in an abandoned building, which just happens to be across a line.
The line is the delineation between two tribes, the school happens to be in a “neutral” area. Damn, they didn’t tell me about this one. A fledgling democracy is like sausage, everybody likes it but nobody wants to see how it made. I’m seeing how it’s made, actually I’m now neck deep in making it.
Before I mobilized for this mission I went to Philly with my team to do some training, well we had a day off. No, we didn’t go get drunk. We actually went and took the tours. One of them being Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was negotiated and signed. I stood there and thought about what incredible discussions and debates must have gone on; creating the wonderful country that we all love. Jefferson, Washington, Adams all the great minds.
If I had been there I’d have been the guy in corner making fun of dudes in wigs and asking when we were going to the bar. Great thinker of the Republic I am not. I’m a soldier; a tool of democracy.
Yes, I realize I just called myself a tool. It’s not that funny, quit laughing you immature fools. Actually, it is pretty funny! I just yelled to one of my NCOs that I called myself a tool in my blog and he responded with, “ At least you’re our tool”.
What would Thomas Jefferson do?? I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t do what I’m doing which is standing there with my mouth open trying to catch some Afghan upper respiratory disease. Did I miss something along the way? Isn’t there some kind of UN monitor or some PhD in election science around to settle this?? Usually, if the question is really hard I ask my wife for the answer and she tells me and I sell like I knew it all along. You wives reading this know what I’m talking about, but that ain’t gonna fly here.
OK, here we go. If I talk really fast and loud they’ll think I know what I’m talking about.
I consult with the coalition commander who’s there with me before I launch into my diatribe. We both agree on our talking points and off I go.
I wait for the CAS to fly low overhead which makes everyone shut up because we can’t talk over the sound of the jet engines as they howl by.
Four score and seven years ago, our fore fathers. No that’s not it.
We have nothing to fear but fear. Not that one either.
Ask not, what your country. This is not what I had hoped for.
I think all the good political lines have been taken. I’m going to have to use my Infantry words, mostly single syllable.
I start addressing the sub governor, Kandak XO and Afghan Election Official.
“Look we’re not going to tell you where to put this thing, but I’ll give you my advice if you’d like.” I start haltingly. Not as good as four score. All this is being communicated through an interpreter.
“Saeis” yes in Dari.
“Well the school is tribe neutral and a symbol of the central government, I understand that the people through the elders have said they want it somewhere else. But the elders don’t dictate to the government what goes on, people get to vote each year and that’s when they tell the government what they want.” I tell them
“Saeis”
“So if Kabul tells you it’s supposed to be here then it probably should be, if the people don’t like it then they can vote and throw out the guys that said it should be here. That’s the way democracy works”.
They eventually agree to this line of logic and decide on different course of action which is to establish the main center at the school and to have a mobile team go to the elders preferred site on a couple of days. A reasonable compromise to me.
This is a central issue that we’re dealing with here in Afghanistan, the tribe elders have been running the show for the last several centuries. The country is now transitioning to a central government taking some of the power out of the hands of the elders and this is a difficult adaptation.
We in the US think of the government in Washington as the three branches created by the founding fathers. Afghans think of the government in Kabul as an amorphous idea, unsure about what benefits it brings to them. Herein lies the key to the COIN fight, how do you show a people; who in general will travel no more than 20 kilometers from their home in their lifetime; that the government is doing something for them?
Not that simple. Democracy here will not look like it does in the US, bottom-line it won’t, they will have their version and that’s what we, the ETTs, end up facilitating. There isn’t someone from the State Department teaching the Afghans, it’s US soldiers doing it.
We’re not trained to do this we’re cobbling, no pun intended, this together as we go. Who knew that our civics classes would be so important? I’m by no means saying that we’re part of the founding fathers of Afghanistan, but daily we watch them struggle with the issues that we, the US, struggled with in our infancy. Heck we’re still struggling with voter registration issues. I even ended up relaying the ACORN stories to the Afghans to highlight that it’s an ongoing struggle.
Some days; the ETTs teach tactics some days we teach government. What would Thomas Jefferson have done? I don’t know. Our small group of soldiers just reminded them that government is of, by and for the people but not reactive to their whims. The Federalist Papers this is not, but we made due.
The good news is that people are registering to make their voices heard in the election, that will be the next hurdle. But we’ll deal with that when it comes.
Making history is hard work, Sir. I don't know if you've seen it, but read this article if you haven't yet.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/14/afghanistan-terrorism/print
It describes the election process from the insurgent point of view. Voter registration is a key to success in the elections. Now if we could just get the Afghan National Police to be as well respected by the population as the ANA, we'd be in business. Six years ago nobody trusted the ANA, though. It's ETT's who helped the ANA be all they can be.
Or maybe they helped them be an Army of Juan. No, wait... that's the Columbians.
Your picture reminded me of the days roaming about with my "sad peschak" trying to build that confidence in the ANP. Good luck with that ACORN, Sir. It's little struggles all over Afghanistan that will make or break them. This is a distributed war.
Reply to this
Good solution
Reply to this
Great writing! Your's is the first blog I look for every day to see if you've updated. Keep up the good work, and write when you can.
Reply to this
Terrific post. We hear so little about the democracy-building part of what's happening in Afghanistan. It's an important reminder that our own democracy didn't just arrive -- fully-formed and overnight, too.
I've only just discovered your blog, and I'm hooked. Thanks for taking the time to log these kinds of stories. I appreciate the glimpse into your world. Please keep the posts coming and have a wonderful Christmas, too. I'm thankful for all that you and your fellow soldiers are doing, at great personal expense. God Bless you all.
Reply to this
I applaud you for the effort to find common ground between the central government in kabul and the isolated tribes on how to agree on voter registration sites and I truly enjoyed your analogy with thomas jefferson and the similarities in the conditions faced by the people and politicians. I worked as a liaison between the provincial govt and the us army in kunar province and will be working with an ngo mostly in eastern afghanistan and would love to get your input on our human development projects.
Reply to this
Not only are you educating them, you are educating us. thank you.
Merry Christmas!
Reply to this
Maybe you absorbed some of that civics class through sugliminal means. However you came up with the solution, you are to be commended. Please know that there are many of us out here who appreciate all that you do and admire your ingenuity, courage and willingness to keep going back into the fray. Hang in there and keep up the good work.
Reply to this
Two steps forward, one step back. Two steps forward, one step back. It's kinda like Dancing. Not Dirty Dancing. More like Dirty Dangerous Dancing.
Please keep up the great work. Merry Christmas to you and your men. Stay as safe as you can.
Thanks.
Reply to this
What would Thomas Jefferson do? Funny you would ask that as he would be one of the "best fits" for where you are and what you're trying to do...
From Wiki...
"Jefferson's vision for American virtue was that of an agricultural nation of yeoman farmers minding their own affairs. It stood in contrast to the vision of Alexander Hamilton, who envisioned a nation of commerce and manufacturing, which Jefferson said offered too many temptations to corruption."
And...
"Jefferson believed that individuals have an innate sense of morality that prescribes right from wrong when dealing with other individuals—that whether they choose to restrain themselves or not, they have an innate sense of the natural rights of others. He even believed that moral sense to be reliable enough that an anarchist society could function well, provided that it was reasonably small. On several occasions, he expressed admiration for tribal, communal way of living of Native Americans."
Given these insights...I think Mr. Jefferson would have no problem with the idea that the elders will be doing most of the ruling in the area with the central government having little say in things.
To me, the trick is getting those elders to understand that if they DON'T bother to say to the central government what they want and such...the central government is going to just do what it thinks is best FOR them...
If you can get them to understand that they take care of most of the local problems themselves, while letting the government far away help them with things they can't take care of directly you should be home free.
Course, getting that hat trick is after all the hat trick isn't it..sigh...
Reply to this
I just found your blog recently and love it! Thank you for sharing with us!
I just received the following link in an email today. It speaks of different forms of govt, addressing some of what has been shared here. Most importantly, it explains that our founding Fathers did NOT establish us as a democracy, but as a republic, and why a republic is a better form of govt than a democracy is.
http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/
Reply to this
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the blog post From the Front: 12/22/2008 News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
Reply to this
I'm the father of an 82nd DSTB troop heading to FOB Bermel in Mar '09....am doing some "homework" on his new 'digs'...searching some for updated info on the locality and tempo of the coalition effort there...threat level for Signal troops who live inside the wire?
Reply to this
Just a note to wish you a
Merry Christmas. Be safe!
Hopefully, they've kept the mail deliveries in good order.
Reply to this
Fascinating and important blog entry. Thank you for sharing your thoughts -- and perhaps your bewilderment at the difficult task you are undertaking under extreme and "unripe" conditions. There is a powerful irony in what you write -- in that Jefferson indeed would have much to say to your questions, about American values in time of war, about treatment of pow's, about habeas corpus for all (including foreign nationals), and about his own great reluctance to support rebellions elsewhere, especially those cultures he felt inordinately under the sway of "monkish superstition." (Jefferson by the way would even have something to to say about public education, way ahead of his time -- even on where to locate schools in areas still facing "native" hostilities!)
Yet there's a greater irony in this post: while Jefferson would share the hope of seeing the blessings of self-government expand abroad, he could not fathom the idea of using American force to establish it, at the barrel of a gun, in a foreign land.
See one of our essays on the subject here:
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/opinion/oped.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-07-10-0010.html
Put differently, Jefferson would empathize with your plight, the difficulty of your situation, even as he would surely marvel that soldiers are being asked to plant "democracy."
Keep posting -- and asking the great questions.
Reply to this
I just found your blog and I just wanted to say I am hooked also. You make it seem as if we are right there with you; frustration, laughter at in appropriate times and everything. I am very interested in what is happening in Afghanistan and you are right out in the middle of it. Thank You.
Reply to this
Just want to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thank you for the precious gift of freedom you continue to give.
Thoughts and Prayers are with you, Godspeed.
Reply to this
Merry Christmas. Thank you for everything you do. I'm hooked on your blog. Thanks for telling it like it is. We can't get that from the MSM.
Reply to this
Merry Christmas! Stay safe.
Reply to this
Merry Christmas
Reply to this
Thank you for all that you do.
I hope you had a Merry and Blessed Christmas. Have a Joyous and Blessed New Year. Blessings to your family. God keep you and those that serve with you safe, strong and victorious.
Reply to this
From what I've read, our founding fathers went at each other on a pretty regular basis. You guys are really breaking new ground there and I hope you get the credit when they (Afghans) are a more civil society. But I'm sure some politician some where will be out there glad-handing 'his' accomplishment when the time comes. You guys really do ROCK. God Bless you all!
Reply to this
First let me say thanks for all you are doing and thanks to you family for allowing you to be there. I found your blog researching FOB Salerno. My brother is there with USACE. I really enjoy your writing, humor, and prospective on the efforts there. I've read all you posts and will continue to do so. I pray you will have a Happy and safe New Year.
Shadow Dog
USAF '71-'75
PGR Ride Captain
Reply to this