Border Wars

The Taliban seems to have suffered heavy casualties over the past year and have also lost a lot of midlevel commanders. Is the insurgency now a weakened force?
I would acknowledge that they have lost a large number of leaders. I do believe they have a capacity to replace the leadership that is either captured or killed with new leaders who are fairly agile in re-establishing the network and what their predecessor was doing.

The American military seems to have been successful in negotiating deals with tribal insurgents in Iraq that bring them over to the coalition's side. Is the U.S. military or NATO in Afghanistan also trying to talk to insurgent tribal leaders?
We concentrate on working with tribal leaders who are legitimate in the eyes of the people and those [leaders] who have been appointed by the government at the district and provincial level. We believe that's culturally accurate, because the tribal leaders and the mullahs have positions of authority that go back hundreds of years. We have an elected government at the highest level and an appointed government in the provinces, and we believe that's a good mix. Those are the Afghans we are concentrating on.

But is there any official prohibition to prevent you from talking to Taliban militants?
That's not in my realm to answer. The Afghan government has a peace and reconciliation program. But we do make recommendations [to the government] about people we believe are ready to do that [lay down their arms and join the government's side] if we do run into them one way or the other.

Coalition forces seem to be successful securing formerly Taliban-controlled or threatened areas, but is the government of President Hamid Karzai capable of moving in behind you and providing security and good governance to the people there?
In my short experience the areas that are most secure often have good governance, a capable provincial governor and district subgovernors who know their job and have the capacity to execute that job on a daily basis. So good governance helps bring good security, and it works the other way as well. It's no secret that the way ahead is [providing] good governance, good security and then a reasonable increase in the quality of life for the Afghan people. I do believe we are seeing that in RC-East.

Do you believe, as many people do, that Osama bin Laden is hiding somewhere in your area of operations, perhaps in Kunar province?
That's a superhard question to answer. As you know, each and every day we are doing everything we can to not only help the Afghan people but also to look for the enemies of the Afghan people, and of the rest of the world. Osama bin Laden is one of them. I guarantee you if he is in our area we are going to continue each and every day to try to find him.

© 2008