The Tyranny of Distance

Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Winter 2010 

It was looking grim for the Special Forces detachment's VSO mission in Maiwand District. Malik Jan, the only remaining cooperative, influential elder in Ezabad Village —the designated starting point in the district —had been beaten by the Taliban for collaborating with the Americans.

Shortly afterwards, the Special Forces team hit a roadside bomb near his house, sustaining multiple injuries. Afraid, Malik Jan fled to Kandahar City. The team was facing one challenge after the next, and was nearing abort criteria without even having spent the first night in the village. Villagers told Captain Dan, the team leader, that they would permit his team to enter the village only if they agreed to build a school for them. Dan offered instead to assist them in the project, saying it should come from the village —if his team was allowed to live in the community, and if locals would defend themselves.

They refused.

Stalemate.

Finally, Captain Dan received reluctant approval to move into the village. Elated, they rented a dilapidated compound on the outskirts of the community that didn't even have a roof. The conditions were so Spartan that only half the team stayed there at a time, while the other half remained on the firebase. Every week or so, the split detachment would make the perilous journey to conduct resupply and switch out teams. They weathered dozens of attacks by insurgents, and fortunately the team managed to avoid the common roadside bombs. They kept enormous pressure on the insurgents through precision targeting.

The reception in the village remained icy. Despite the ever-present threats, the team stayed laser-focused on moving into the community. Bit by bit, they improved the compound, and before long, there was actually a roof over their heads. This incremental improvement continued even after a new team replaced Captain Dan's team. Captain John, the new detachment commander, focused his men on continued engagement with the locals. Despite no initial gains, they kept patrolling and stayed committed. One evening, the team's compound came under enemy fire. The men took up their defensive positions on the roof. Captain John judged the attackers to be too far away for his Green Berets to engage without causing possible civilian casualties. Showing amazing restraint in the face of enemy fire, the team rode out the attack, with no casualties. The family down the road was not so lucky. The head of the household had been killed in the crossfire by the Taliban. The team appropriately waited for the mourning period to end, and then went to the family bearing traditional gifts of a goat, rice, and beans. The Green Berets paid their respects to the family in true Afghan fashion and offered condolences. Looking away from Captain John, the slain villager's son said, "You shouldn't apologize, you did not do this." He pointed in the direction the Taliban fire had come from and said, "They did."

This was a significant turning point. There would be many more struggles, but now locals started stepping up to address them. The tyranny of distance that plagued so many COIN practitioners in Maiwand District was much smaller for these Green Berets living among the people in Ezabad. Captain Dan returned to the same village to build on his initial gains. By the time Dan's team rotated home from their second deployment in this village, Maiwand District had formed an Afghan Local Police force, Malik Jan had returned to Ezabad Village to lead his people, Afghan Special Forces were starting to advise the Afghan Local Police, and the locals had built their own school, providing their own labor and their own teacher. The Maiwand mission, despite its challenges, offered strategic value to the Afghan campaign and a new opportunity for stability. Most important, this important crossroads on the Silk Road was starting to handle its own affairs again. It would take many years of patient advising, but the seeds for rebuilding informal civil society had been sown.

― from "Game Changers (Abridged Citizens Edition): Going Local to Defeat Violent Extremists"

Last week, we focused on the essential need to Get Surrounded on Purpose, as illustrated in the excerpt above. You’ve got to have confidence that you can immerse yourself in the culture, the environment of wherever you are, and find very relevant, appropriate solutions for moving people to action from the inside out. Get caught up on last week's vlog at https://youtu.be/zyNtnEIUkv4 and subscribe to the channel for weekly updates.

This week we will be focusing on Extreme Collaboration. Tune in tomorrow for the next vlog in the series and I'll see you on the rooftop!

Game Changers (Abridged Citizens Edition) can be purchased on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle versions at https://a.co/arOpXHW

Scott?