Fawzia Sheikh*

KANDAHAR, Oct 10 2007 (IPS) – Colourfully-clad Afghan villagers with dirty, barefoot children sit outside a makeshift coalition clinic in a tiny village in Kandahar province, impatiently awaiting their turn to see the medics.
Today, the common ailment medical staff report is children infected with worms, their distended stomachs and diarrhoea are tell-tale signs of a life lacking proper hygiene. Running water is scarce in this impoverished part of the country, which has seen the brunt of fighting in the six-year war.

By the end of the day, Capt. Maureen Sevilla of the South Carolina National Guard and her colleagues have dispensed several boxes of multivitamins to help alleviate the problem, often handing the supplements to children only slightly older than their sick siblings. Sometimes their parents are nowhere to be found.

United States and coalition efforts to win the Afghan people #39s trust by offering free medical assistance and undertaking reconstruction projects like roads and schools have prompted locals to be more cooperative, revealing roadside bombs and Taliban members, U.S. commanders say. But these attempts have failed to stem some Afghans #39 views that little progress is being made six years following the country #39s invasion.

Nonetheless, coalition forces are pleased with their efforts.

Following one medical outreach operation villagers quickly changed their mind about American troops, whom the Taliban had described as bad , said Maj. Charles Blankman, a U.S. army physician #39s assistant located at a forward-operating base outside of Kandahar airfield, a small facility of military personnel located beyond the main military base.
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It does a lot of good for counterinsurgency operations, Blankman said of the medical services offered to Afghans. People are very thankful to you . The medical outreach programmes, though limited, convey to civilian Afghans that their government wants to help them, he added.

In all cases, the coalition tries to put an Afghan face on the clinics by soliciting the help of Afghan doctors and nurses, he continued. The coalition usually travels with 30 to 40 Afghan police officers who undertake security, searches and hand out humanitarian assistance supplies such as food and even coloring books, while Western troops try to remain in the background, said Blankman.

Blankman #39s forward-operating base carries out two such medical clinics each month depending on the security situation of a particular area, but is reluctant to publicise events for fear the Taliban might find out.

It is at these types of community outreaches that U.S. army Col. Thomas McGrath, commander of the Afghan Regional Security Integration Command- South based at Kandahar airfield, hopes to obtain information about the insurgency from local Afghans.

When people feel they have security, they #39re more likely to give up intelligence, McGrath said in an interview with IPS, echoing a well recognised principle of counterinsurgency.

Coalition forces recently distributed leaflets in an eastern town urging people to identify Taliban and set up a hotline that received 200 or 300 calls in a couple of days, he said. Three or four tips typically become successful leads, he explained, adding the sheer number of calls indicates locals want economic viability, schools and hospitals.

The funny thing (is) the Taliban were calling too and they were pissed, he said. He said the next day the Taliban, thousands of who have been killed over the last six months, planted an explosive device close to the U.S. military base in an effort to reassert themselves.

In certain southern Afghan towns, however, villagers have refused to share information with coalition forces, telling them that, #39I can #39t, because you #39re going to leave here and they #39ll cut my head off, #39 McGrath explained. Afghans live in constant fear of the Taliban, who recently executed police officers in a nearby town square just to spread terror, he said.

In some cases Afghans have paid mob protection money to the Taliban, who have also demanded food and shelter from villagers and disperse when the coalition arrives, according to a U.S. air force intelligence officer. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

In an effort to separate the insurgents from the general population and thereby gain more intelligence from civilians who feel more secure the U.S. military is also investing in biometrics programmes allowing forces to take a census of towns and villages, McGrath added. This initiative includes obtaining electronic fingerprints, photos, addresses and phone numbers, making it more difficult for Taliban to slip undetected into an area, he said.

Coalition forces entering a new area need to win over the village elder controlling the town before the other residents will follow suit, the intelligence officer told IPS.

One way to curry favor is through rebuilding initiatives financed by the Commanders Emergency Response Programme fund, a military programme providing funds for U.S. troops to assist Iraqis and Afghans with critical reconstruction and assistance projects. Commanders on the ground are able to provide assistance in a streamlined fashion, which means money is immediately available to respond to needs.

CERP projects, undertaken by Afghans, have included building roads, schools, mosques, wells, clinics, among other things. Western military efforts to establish the Afghan government #39s legitimacy by helping it to focus on the needs of its people and impose security has received mixed appraisals across the country.

Isa Mohammed, an 18-year-old farmer with a wife in southern Afghanistan #39s Zabul province, said he believes life is better now than under the Taliban regime of the 1990s, pointing to the construction of roads and hospitals over the years. Prior to the election of President Hamid Karzai, the country had no economy but now farmers may export grapes, almonds, wheat and other commodities, he said.

Other Afghans, however, are disenchanted by the state of the country several years after the hated Taliban regime was toppled in 2001. This is particularly so following a spate of bomb attacks over the last few weeks in the capital Kabul, known for being much quieter than the volatile south.

Yet, busy downtown thoroughfares indicate the inherent danger of life in Afghanistan a heavily armed society where restaurant patrons check their weapons at the door and criminal gangs abduct victims for money has still not deterred them from going about their normal business.

I prefer the Taliban for peace, declared Dr. Razia Kamal, a 28-old-year-old gynaecologist shopping at the Faryad Trading Center on Flower Road with her younger sister Raihana, 20, in the middle of Ramadan (Ramzan). Her parents escaped to Pakistan years ago and only recently returned, but she is unsure whether she will remain in the country of her birth if violence persists.

When reminded that the Taliban would severely curtail educational and job opportunities for her if it resumed power, Kamal responded: When women are not living, what education is there for them? Life is more important than education.

Sabghat Ullah, a 28-year-old clothing store owner, lamented the fact that Americans and other foreigners came here to stabilise Afghanistan but peace from Taliban terror was still elusive. Two days, two explosions, he grumbled. No country is stopping them.

(*Fawzia Sheikh was recently embedded with US troops in Afghanistan)