Afstan: Interview with Commander, ISAF Joint Command, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez

Excerpts from a Stars and Stripes transcript (via Tom Ricks' The Best Defense):

DRUZIN: Can you start off by talking a little bit about the IJC and how it fits into the overall picture here in Afghanistan?

RODRIGUEZ: Well the ISAF Joint Headquarters is a 3 star level headquarters, much like the Multi-National Corps Iraq level of headquarters was; so we command the regional commands and conduct the day to day operations and all the operational tactical operations that go on in the Regional Commands [outline of ISAF's command structure here, along with senior officers and bio of Lt. Gen. Rodriguez].

DRUZIN: How has your day to day work changed since General McChrystal issued his new way forward [more here]? Can you tell me a little bit about how things are changing?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, we are working very hard to conduct embedded partnering and become much closer to the Afghan security forces, who we partner with very closely of-course, but also the Afghan people and the Afghan government. So we work very, very, closely with all of them so that we understand what’s really going on in the complex human terrain out there that makes up Afghanistan. And of-course we’ve got some other great guidance from the leadership here about the tactical directive and the driving directive, and things like that, and all those things are focused on protecting the people, so that we are serving the people of Afghanistan as best as we possibly can during the conduct of our operations.

DRUZIN: And can you tell me a little bit more about the embedding; I was just out in the South, I was with an MP Company who has taken it quite literally and they were moving into the Police sub-stations and live there 24/7 along with their Afghan counterparts [emphasis added, more on US MPs here, with the CF] so can you tell me a little bit more about that and just the importance of that embedding to the overall strategy.

RODRIGUEZ: Well, we think that’s critical to the strategy and we have to do this so that we build the relationships that are so very, very important here; which is why they are living with them, operating 24 hours a day. Because when you build those relationships, the trust grows between us and the Afghans; it’s also a great link to the Afghan people who are here to serve in the long run and then we ask them to hold us accountable and we attempt to hold them accountable in a type of shared responsibility; and we want them to hold us accountable so that we are doing things in an Afghan context the way they would because sometimes that’s different than what we would think initially. And then we try to hold them accountable to best serving their people being good leaders and good stewards and public servants. And then we think that is also the best way to develop the capacity of the Afghans to lead this themselves; so that’s the other reason we are working very close to them all the time.

DRUZIN: And can you talk a little bit about that end goal you talked about with the Afghans taking responsibility for themselves, so, what is the ‘end goal’ for this embedding process?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, for each organization at every level, we are attempting to embed at every level we possibly can and what you are really trying to do is build their ability to sustain their security for their country. And then continue to get on a track that is increasing in capability all the time so that they gain momentum and they are able to sustain that momentum as they get more effective over time [more on embedding here, here, here and here].

DRUZIN: And then also, just looking forward; how do you balance COIN strategy with the need for still big military operations like the big push in Arghandab [more here and another US Army battalion coming to the district, to be under Canadian command] and other districts that are still problematic, how do you strike that balance?

RODRIGUEZ: That’s a great question and a great challenge for all our leaders to do the right thing at the right time at the right place, and they have to make judgments about that. In the old days we use to talk about tactical patience and tactical aggressiveness and you have to apply those at the right time and right place. If you mix those at the wrong time you are going to be in trouble; well it’s the same thing here, we’re trying to balance, and again, when you roll up into a village with one machine gun on top of a MRAP it’s not too easy to interact with the people; but now when you are on a road that’s got some IED’s, and that’s the threat and stuff; that’s the time to be like that. So, again, there just adjusting to the local conditions and mitigating and managing the risk out there to get as close to the people as they possibly can...

DRUZIN: President Obama said that he wants to start drawing down troops by July and there has been some different takes on that, what is your take, what does that mean, that deadline?

RODRIGUEZ: Well it a, again, I think it means just what he said, in 2011 we’ll start drawing down forces and you can look at that time many different ways. If you are looking at it one way, the enemy thinks you’re quitting. And if you look at it from some of the way the Afghan leadership looks at it, it’s encouraging or inspiring them to hurry up and give it all that they have to improve as fast as they can, and again, the conditions on the ground at that time will dictate the pace and rate and those things and I think it will be a deliberate decision making process that will include all things from how the security, how the governance is doing, how the Afghan leadership is doing everything they can to improve so that’s the decision, and we’re moving forward with it; again, you can look at it in multiple ways, looking at it positively it’s a, I think the Afghans for example, it’s interesting that the Army has recruited more people this month than they ever have, and again, it’s a sense of urgency and it also shows that it’s not open ended and again, it’s the shared responsibility by the International Community as well as the Afghan leadership...

DRUZIN: Can you talk a little-bit about the South. That’s been a, that’s suppose to be a real big push there for the surge, the south, can you talk about what we are going to see there and just how vital that is to improve things down there.

RODRIGUEZ: The South is obviously critical [emphasis added, more here and here; I still wonder why Helmand province will end up with considerably more ISAF forces, and those being built up faster, than Kandahar--see end of this post] to how Afghanistan goes in the long term because that was the spiritual home of the Taliban, it’s also the Helmand river valley there is huge production center for all of Afghanistan and is effective as it could be for part of the region, and of-course you have the huge city of Kandahar in the crossroads the importance of that to the whole southern area of Afghanistan and then you’ve got the commerce routes that take the goods into Pakistan and down as well as up to Kabul so it’s a…Kandahar is a huge crossroads that’s very important for Afghanistan and even around Kandahar there’s a huge farming production capability and then same thing for the Helmand river valley so it’s important, it’s also an area where there is a high density of people and then the population center of operations and the ability to protect the people best as effectively as we can, that’s very important to us and to Afghanistan and we came about this plan by working with the Afghans so they understand the importance of that area, the high density of people and what it does, what it provides as far as opportunity for the government to take care of its people so that’s where we’re going to focus for those reasons because that’s where they think is best too...