“The Obama administration, however, is having trouble finding civilian experts at the State Department to send to Afghanistan.”
Thanks to Master Gunner for this article. He brought up the key sentence of the article, that made us both laugh. There should be no trouble finding civilian experts, if the Obama administration is willing to tap into the free market system, as opposed to limiting the mission to only those he can find in government. Face it, we are here, we are available and want to work, yet we just don’t want to be government employees. We will gladly perform contracting services though, and it is a system that works if the government takes the time to just referee the whole thing to make sure everyone plays by some sound and effective rules.
Also, I will give a kudo to the administration for at least giving the perception of trying to find the best model of operation. That is what learning organizations do, and if in fact the Dutch have the best model of operation, then that is great that we want to use it. But I will wait until we get some real experts on the subject to talk about it. I am sure Tim Lynch and others have some ideas about this, and I look forward to any input. –Matt
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U.S. Takes Dutch Military as Role Model in Afghan Operation
By JAY SOLOMON
APRIL 30, 2009
STROE, the Netherlands — The Obama administration, which wants to send hundreds of additional civilian personnel into Afghanistan, is looking at the Dutch military’s operations there for lessons on how to combat the Taliban.
The civilian deployment is part of a U.S. focus on economic development meant to weaken support for the Taliban and dry up finances it derives from the opium trade. The civilians will complement the deployment in the coming months of 21,000 new troops, many of whom will be posted to southern provinces where the Taliban are thriving.
The Obama administration, however, is having trouble finding civilian experts at the State Department to send to Afghanistan. Pentagon officials said they may need military reservists to fill any shortfall in the 500 to 600 civilians Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seeking for Afghanistan.
The Netherlands, with nearly 2,000 personnel in southern Uruzgan province, has better integrated the efforts of its military and civilian personnel than the U.S., senior U.S. officials say.
Dutch soldiers preparing here for deployment to Afghanistan say they are ingrained with the concept that economic development will be their primary mission, rather than solely pursuing extremists and Taliban fighters. Diplomats from the Netherlands’ foreign ministry help to command the Dutch team in Uruzgan, home to 350,000 Afghans, and aid workers are embedded in the Dutch effort.
“Over time, there’s been a focus on pure development” in the Dutch forces, said Col. Gert-Jan Kooij, chief of operations for the Royal Netherlands Army’s 13th Mechanized Brigade, which is deployed in Uruzgan. “We need to provide defense, but the priority is on development and diplomacy.”
Soldiers training in a wooded area 90 minutes outside The Hague describe their command largely as a protection force. They hope they can provide Dutch diplomats and aid workers enough security to build the roads and agricultural projects needed to dry up local support for the Taliban and other militant groups.
The soldiers say that approach has contained violence. Nineteen Dutch personnel have died in Afghanistan since the Netherlands deployed in March 2006, according to iCasualties.org.
“Dutch soldiers and civilians have done excellent work,” Mrs. Clinton said last week after meeting her Dutch counterpart, Maxime Verhagen, in Washington. “In fact, the Dutch ‘3D’ approach — defense, diplomacy, and development pursued simultaneously … is a model for our own efforts and the future efforts in Afghanistan.”
The U.S. praise for the Dutch mission, say Obama administration officials, reflects Washington’s growing recognition of the need for political and economic tools to subdue Afghanistan’s insurgency. U.S. military personnel still dominate American reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, though President Barack Obama has signaled his intent to change this dynamic.
The aid workers whom the U.S. State Department is seeking to deploy will work on building local economies based on agriculture and small business that don’t rely on the opium crop. Experts will also seek to better establish rule of law and local police forces, U.S. officials said.
There are 10 U.S. military personnel to every one U.S. civilian working for the U.S. government in Afghanistan, say State Department officials.
Mrs. Clinton is seeking to provide incentives to American diplomats and aid workers to join provincial reconstruction teams.
“We want to get more people out there working with the Afghan ministries on the ground,” said a senior U.S. official who traveled to Afghanistan recently to plan for the civilian effort.
Some officials working on Afghanistan note that the Dutch contingent has a somewhat easier time in Uruzgan because the province hasn’t been a Taliban stronghold like Helmand and Kandahar provinces, and doesn’t have as large an opium crop. Still, many agree Dutch forces have been effective in understanding that the civilian components of a counterinsurgency strategy need to be intertwined with the military.
—Yochi J. Dreazen contributed to this article.
Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com
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