Afstan: Where the fighting is/Helping the government

An excellent analysis with maps by Bruce Rolston--taking on Jeffrey Simpson in the Globe today (full text not officially online, Mr Simpson does make some good points).

And a good article decribing what our military are doing to help the central Afghan government (though the headline, "Canadians go undercover in Afghanistan", is all-too-typical of the sensationalism of the Globe's headlines these days and does not reflect the story at all).

Embedded deep inside key ministries of the Afghan government, a handful of senior Canadian officers -- all volunteers -- are stretching the definition of military assistance...

But measured by long-term impact, the no-strings-attached expertise, strategic advice and basic organization the group is bringing to Afghanistan's sometimes chaotic ministries may have an effect as far reaching as the combat campaign being waged far to the south in Kandahar by a Canadian battle group of more than 2,300 soldiers.

The high-powered, low-key and ambiguously named Strategic Advisory Team is the brainchild of General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff. Gen. Hillier, an outgoing military man who commanded North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan in 2004, built a set of personal relationships while he was in Kabul that included President Hamid Karzai...

The officers all bring experience of managing major projects but even more important is what they are not.

"We're not a bunch of drive-by MBAs," Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Aubin, the group's chief of staff, said derisively of the steady stream of highly paid, short-term consultants that infest Kabul.

Gen. Hillier's experiment remains unique -- a new foray for the Canadian military and the Afghan government, which can tap a proven management resource.

"Hillier saw a need for consistent application of assistance and expertise to Afghan ministries," all of which were struggling with complex problems usually with limited staff, often with little background or experience in running big organization, Col. Dixon said.

"Our job is to work ourselves out of a job."..

Predate: See this excellent earlier post by Babbling.