Jobs, Water Key to Winning Afghan Villages

(CBS)  A Taliban suicide bomber in Afghanistan blew himself up today in the middle of a crowd that was leaving a mosque near Kabul, Twenty-four people were killed, including the country's deputy intelligence chief, an ally of President Hamid Karzai.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces are locked in a town-by-town battle with the Taliban. But in Afghanistan, bulldozers may be more important than bullets, as CBS news correspondent David Martin reports from Yargul Kala, in Logar Province.

The Afghans call this spectacular mountain bowl the bogeyman because it's infested with hardcore Taliban.

When Captain Jose Vasquez and the 90 soldiers of Cherokee Troop got here last spring, they were attacked every day.

"The enemy realized we were really disrupting their support zones and they felt a need to try and attempt to take it back," Vasquez said.

Vasquez has beaten back the Taliban without losing a single soldier. In a conventional war, you would call that winning. But not in Afghanistan.

"I would say it's definitely a tie because right now we have several towns that are just on the edge," he said.

So he is meeting with village elders - offering help to people who live in dirt houses and pump their water by hand as well as "the repair of some roads and then maybe building a soccer field for some kids."

The elders tell him the men of the village need work. Vasquez's reply: "We're going to talk about more jobs."

Some 27,000 people live in this region and, like the backpacks Vasquez brought for the children, there are not enough troops to go around. Whether it's troops or backpacks, when they run short it can get rough.

To give an idea of how thinly spread American troops are, counterinsurgency doctrine calls for one soldier to protect every 50 inhabitants. Here it's only one American soldier for every 270.

The under-trained and under-equipped Afghan army and police will eventually have to take over in the region, but not any time soon.

"If we left today," Vasquez says, "what we've accomplished so far would just fall apart."

Vasquez promised the elders two new jobs today and to him that means two men earning money instead of shooting at his soldiers.

[frankstarnes07]

Medical billing is a fast growing field today. Find a local school to get a degree in medical billing in few months http://******/ESUNX

[mysteriousjz]

Lol.. I know the culture. For them, honor and dignity mean a lot million fold more than a soccer field and backpacks. What that means is that men, specially young men do not like foreign people coming in to their villages and telling them what to do and give them a few candies. They are extremely savvy and feel insulted from outsiders. Men take those gestures as insults and arrogance specially coming from invaders and occupiers. Therefore, the cause may be noble, but impractical.

Mr. Vasquez can give a backpack or two to Mrs. Gonzalez's 6 children living in a shoddy home in Texas.

[jwesel1]

by babooph September 2, 2009 7:38 PM EDT
I still recall how all the experts knew how to beat the VC,now they know how to beat the Taliban-If they know so much,why are we having the most powerful,well equiped war machine in the world losing to a bunch of shoeless goatherders ?
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It's not the size of dog in the fight, it's the size of fight in the dog.

[dronemonk]

How many jobs/gallons of water would it take to get your community to put up with foreign troops?

[babooph]

I still recall how all the experts knew how to beat the VC,now they know how to beat the Taliban-If they know so much,why are we having the most powerful,well equiped war machine in the world losing to a bunch of shoeless goatherders ?

[gopparrotslie]

Helping the Villagers is just one small part of the equation
We also need a new drug Policy throughout Afghanistan
The Eradication of destitute farmers crops must be changed--

Currently there is a shortage of Medicinal opiates worldwide
The Govt. In concert with the Pharmaceutical Companies
Should set up licensing and Purchasing
Of the Opium crop for legitimate Pain medications

Just to destroy the farmers livelihood with chemicals or fire
Starves the people and makes them enemies for life--
Most of these farmers are poor to begin with,
If you destroy their only source of income
You inadvertently give the Taliban easy recruiting tools

So to Fight the war -- you need a smarter strategy
Buy their Poppies-For legitimate purposes
As they currently do in Pakistan and England
Both of whom grow Poppies for the drug companies
And over time steer them to different crops

If you lose the local Populace through strong arming crop desolation-
They will hate us and welcome the extremists with open arms.

[wyodutch]

There ya go.... Our army of occupation in Afghanistan simply has to do what the politicians here in the Fatherland.. er... Homeland, have to do to stay in power... Give the masses money and jobs.