No truer statement has come for all the plans and surges currently envisioned for Afghanistan.
“One Tribe at a Time: A Strategy for Success in Afghanistan,” by Major James Gant, USA, Special Forces, is an outstanding work on what has to be done in Afghanistan if we are to bring the war to an acceptable conclusion.
To see the paper go to www.blog.stevenpressfield.com, for “It’s the Tribes Stupid,” and click on the down load for Maj. James Gant, “One tribe at a Time.” Additionally, Steven Pressfield, one of my favorite authors, has a collection of slides taken by Maj. Gant and his Special Forces team, with his narration.
Pressfield presents Maj. Gant with his 2003 mission in Afghanistan as proof that the U.S. military can, and should, work alongside the tribes against the insurgents.
That’s right 2003 and we still haven’t got it right.
It has been reported that an 80-year-old tribal leader,Malik Noorafzhal, told Gant that he had never spoken to an American before and asked why U.S. troops were in his country. Gant responded by pulling out his laptop and showing Noorafzhal a video of the World Trade Center towers crumbling. What a great idea to let the Afghans know why we are there.
Enough said – go to the Pressfield blog and read the paper.
