Soldiers for reconstruction
Washington Post: The summer offensive by Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan has damaged the already shaky U.S. mission in more than one way. In addition to killing scores of Afghans, several foreign aid workers and three U.S. soldiers, the hundreds of insurgents who have been operating in the countryside have slowed vital reconstruction projects and caused many Afghans to question whether the U.S.-backed regime of Hamid Karzai will ever succeed in establishing its authority around the country. U.S. commanders say they are getting the better of the enemy and have killed hundreds of fighters. Even so, the intensified combat has had the effect of reinforcing American dependence on Afghan militias and their warlord commanders -- who, after the Taliban, may be the largest obstacle to stabilizing and rebuilding Afghanistan.
U.S. dependence on the warlords began with the decision two years ago to remove the Taliban from power by backing opposition forces grouped in a loose alliance. Once the war was won, the Bush administration orchestrated the formation of a new government under Mr. Karzai and promised to help him extend its authority while overseeing reconstruction. But the Pentagon refused to break its links with the irregular fighters and their often brutal and corrupt commanders, who now control provinces and cities, collect their own taxes and sometimes wage war against each other. Instead, U.S. commanders continued to use militia forces to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Deadlines are looming
Afghanistan's reconstruction plan calls for a new constitution to be completed and approved and democratic elections held sometime in the next year or so. That will be hard enough if a resurgent Taliban is operating in the south; it will be impossible if the warlords continue to rule most of the rest of the country. Curbing their authority will not be easy, but an opportunity to take a first step is now at hand. Prompted by Germany and Norway, the NATO alliance -- which formally assumed command of the Kabul peacekeeping force last month -- is considering whether to deploy outside Kabul. One option is for NATO forces to add to the "provincial reconstruction teams" that the United States and Britain have set up in four places around the country. These are groups of several hundred soldiers that offer security to international aid groups, collect loose weapons and help keep the peace among local factions. Paving the way for these new deployments may require considerable diplomatic effort; all of NATO's 19 governments must agree, and a new United Nations mandate may be necessary. But the Bush administration should embrace the initiative. The deployment of a few hundred more Western soldiers won't disarm the warlords, but it should give Karzai's government a modest boost -- and in the coming months, his administration will need all the help it can get.