NR: "The war in
Afghanistan is not going well."
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Length: 3:30
LARGE (40.5 MB)
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Today on NewsRoom they finally played the
package that was scheduled to air on the fourth
night of the Afghanistan coverage -- another look
at Kandahar and the option of bringing the local
warlords onto US payroll (similar to what was done
in Iraq) as a way of blocking support for the
Taliban and (more importantly to US interests) al
Qaeda.
MICHAEL
WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The war in
Afghanistan is not going well. U.S. commanders tell
me something dramatic has to change if the American
mission here is to be saved. For months, the White
House has been talking about sending in more troops,
but there will never be enough, and politically back
home, the will to fight this war is deteriorating
rapidly.
(on camera): It's clear that the way this war is
currently being fought is simply not working. The
Taliban are as strong as ever. Right now, American
strategy for fighting this conflict is undergoing a
massive review. And it's obvious that there's simply
not enough international nor Afghan troops to do the
job. That's leading many to call for something that's
all too familiar here in Afghanistan, the involvement
of the tribes or simply a return of the warlords.
(voice-over): Senior military sources say they may
draw upon the lessons of Iraq and enlist tribal
militias to fight the Taliban where U.S. troops
cannot. This man is the brother of Afghan President
Hamid Karzai. He is also the powerful leader of a
tribe. He tells me the only way for a U.S. victory
here is to use the tribal forces.
AHMED WALI KARZAI, BROTHER OF HAMID KARZAI: You can
win very easily. The right approach would be go back
to the tribes.
WARE: He says with support of tribal forces, the U.S.
could take away the support that Taliban needs to
survive.
KARZAI: We must cut off the sources -- the
transportation, the food, the drinking water, the
weapons, hide my weapons, bury my dead and take my
wounded to the hospital. These are all the things
that it comes from the community. And people are not
supporting this. They have no choice.
WARE: This other Kandahar tribal leader, Ustad Abdul
Halim, says the U.S. needs a different kind of
support. He was a hero of the Soviet war. He says
America must turn again to the same Mujahadeen who
with the CIA help defeated the Soviets.
"If America doesn't lend a hand to the Mujahadeen,"
he says, "it will have lost this war in Afghanistan."
Lose the war, he says, because the Mujahadeen are
already disenchanted with the U.S.-backed Afghan
government in Kabul.
"The Mujahadeen in this city are disabled. They lost
legs, arms, eyes, and are left to sell vegetables,"
he says. "And the Afghan government just shuts them
out. Who are these government people? They came from
America and they were cleaning toilets in America as
exiles while we were here hitting Russian tanks."
By rearming and employing these men, America may be
able to appease them and prevent more from slipping
over to the Taliban side. Already, a senior Afghan
government official in Kabul confirmed to CNN a pilot
program in southern Afghanistan is under way,
creating what the government calls national local
protectors.
American military sources say the U.S. plans to place
Green Beret advisers with these militia to provide
guidance, air support and to prevent abuses. Whatever
you call them -- militias, warlords, national local
protectors -- the option is one that the United
States will need to seriously consider.
Michael Ware, CNN, Kandahar.