Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 26, 2008; Page A01
The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.
Four blue pills. Viagra.
"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.
The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.
For U.S. intelligence officials, this is how some crucial battles in Afghanistan are fought and won. While the CIA has a long history of buying information with cash, the growing Taliban insurgency has prompted the use of novel incentives and creative bargaining to gain support in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods, according to officials directly involved in such operations.
More at the
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122500931.html?hpid=topnews">Washington Post article
Viagra Diplomacy. Huh! Bet they don't teach that at all the Foreign Service schools.
Afghans and U.S. Plan to Recruit Local Militias
By DEXTER FILKINS
Published: December 23, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taking a page from the successful experiment in Iraq, American commanders and Afghan leaders are preparing to arm local militias to help in the fight against a resurgent Taliban. But along with hope, the move is raising fears here that the new armed groups could push the country into a deeper bloodletting.
Militant fighters in June near a burning vehicle in Wardak, where the Taliban have overrun most government authority.
The militias will be deployed to help American and Afghan security forces, which are stretched far and wide across this mountainous country. The first of the local defense forces are scheduled to begin operating early next year in Wardak Province, an area just outside the capital where the Taliban have overrun most government authority.
If the experiment proves successful, similar militias will be set up rapidly across the country, senior American and Afghan officials said.
The formation of Afghan militias comes on the heels of a similar undertaking in Iraq, where 100,000 Sunni gunmen, many of them former insurgents, have been placed on the government payroll. The Awakening Councils, as they are known, are credited by American officials as one of the main catalysts behind the steep reduction in violence there.
More at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/world/asia/24afghan.html?scp=2&sq=Dexter%20Filkins&st=cse">The New York Times
Will this work in Afghanistan, where there are 400 or so different alleigances based on tribal and ethinic/religious distinctions?
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