KABUL, Afghanistan – "Shoulder
to shoulder" is the mantra of the NATO-Afghan military partnership.
Now, after Afghan soldiers and police turned their guns on their foreign
partners during outrage over the Koran burnings, even Western advisers
-- not just combat troops -- are looking over their shoulders.
The deepening distrust is jeopardizing the
U.S.-led coalition's strategy of training Afghan security forces and
helping government workers so that international troops can go home.
The advisers do a variety of jobs. While
some focus on the battlefield, others pore over geological surveys, lure
outside investors or make sure that key mountain passes are clear of
snow. They work closely with their Afghan counterparts to build a
government strong enough to fend off threats and attacks from the Taliban and other militants trying to destabilize their country.
There has been lingering distrust for years.
Afghan soldiers and police, or militants dressed in their uniforms,
have shot and killed more than 75 U.S. and other coalition forces in Afghanistan since 2007.
But tensions soared Feb. 25 when two U.S.
military advisers were found dead with gunshots to the back of the head
inside the Afghan Ministry of Interior, one of the most heavily guarded
buildings in the capital, Kabul.
The two were among six U.S. troops killed by
Afghan security forces during a week of demonstrations over the burning
of Islamic books and Korans at a U.S. military base in eastern
Afghanistan. President Barack Obama and U.S. military officials say the burnings were a mistake and not intentional.
Hours after the military advisers' bodies
were found on the floor of their office, Gen. John Allen, the top
commander of U.S. and NATO
forces in Afghanistan, took the unprecedented step of recalling
hundreds of coalition personnel working in more than two dozen
government ministries in Kabul. He said the decision was made "for
obvious force protection reasons." Britain, France, Germany and Canada quickly followed suit, putting much of the West's mentoring and advising work on hold.
"It's a declining relationship. It has been
for years," said Martine van Bijlert, co-founder of the Afghan Analyst
Network in Kabul. "You won't be able to fix that. The big question is
'Will it remain a workable relationship?' I think it's possible. It
could settle down, but it won't fully settle down to the old level."
"These advisers are crucial, especially in
the security sector when we're talking about transition," said Haroun
Mir, director of Afghanistan's Center for Research and Policy Studies in
Kabul.
"Certainly the Afghan government can
function without them, but if they don't return, it will take a toll on
the financial situation of the government. Many of these projects
financed by donors require the presence of these advisers."
Allen is determined to get the advisers back
into the ministries as soon as possible -- when he deems it is safe
enough to do so, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a coalition
spokesman. The coalition has not disclosed the total number of advisers
who work in the ministries.
Their work has not completely stopped, he said.
"Though they are not physically standing
beside them, the advisers are still in daily communication with their
Afghan counterparts, as Gen. Allen directed to keep the lines of
communication open," Cummings said. "We are committed to our partnership
with the government of Afghanistan. ... Tens of thousands of Afghan and
coalition troops continue to effectively work together on significant
missions every day."
A few dozen advisers critical to the mission have trickled back to work, but with additional security, Cummings said.
A senior Western adviser who oversees
advisers in several ministries said that when they go back they probably
will be required to wear body armor and travel in groups with armed
escorts. The adviser said they also might have to get permission to
visit the ministries, reducing day-to-day contact with their Afghan
partners.
Some advisers, such as the ones involved in
the Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program, will balk at increased security,
the adviser said. The U.S. established the program in September 2009 to
create a team of military and civilian experts who could develop close
working relationships with their Afghan and Pakistani counterparts.
Contractors who serve as advisers generally
are not so eager to rush back to the ministries, and some told the
adviser they are ready to head home.
The adviser and all others who spoke on
condition of anonymity for this article did so because of increasing
tensions in the NATO-Afghan relationship.
Restoring trust between Western advisers and their Afghan counterparts will be challenging.
"If an adviser gets killed and you're an adviser, it's going to be difficult," said Nadia Gerspacher, a senior program adviser for the United States Institute of Peace in Washington.
"If an adviser gets killed and you're an adviser, it's going to be difficult," said Nadia Gerspacher, a senior program adviser for the United States Institute of Peace in Washington.
"Is it going to make people less trusting
and feeling more insecure in the ministry? Probably," said Gerspacher,
who has been in contact with advisers in Kabul since the killings.
An international security contractor said he
could feel the tension when he visited an Interior Ministry office the
day after the U.S. advisers were killed. Usually Afghan police there
greet him with "Salamou Aleikom," meaning "Peace be with you." This
time, 14 or 15 armed policemen standing in a hallway outside the office
were silent, he said. The policemen asked an interpreter whether the
Western contractor was American or British. He and a colleague soon
left.
An Afghan National Police general at the
Interior Ministry said he felt ashamed by the killings and would welcome
the advisers back.
They are the teachers for Afghanistan's new
system of providing security and if they don't return, the work being
done to reform the unprofessional and corrupt policemen will collapse,
said the general. A lot of work has been suspended since the killings,
the general said.
Another official at the Interior Ministry said the Western advisers' morale had been shattered.
When two Western advisers visited his unit a few days ago, he tried to break the tension.
Jokingly, he shook his finger at them,
smiled and said: "You've been absent for four or five days. Your pay
will be docked." He said that he has developed strong bonds with a few
of the Western advisers and will consider them good friends forever.
Some ministries aren't so dependent on the
advisers, according to an official at the Finance Ministry. He said the
advisers were badly needed three or four years ago, but that the
ministry was now staffed with talented, well-trained Afghan employees
who no longer need the 20 to 25 well-paid Westerners who currently work
there. The ministry could hire five Afghans with the salary paid to one
Westerner, he said.
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