VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBUL #3109/01 2790458
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060458Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1847
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KABUL 003109 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT:  CORRECTED COPY - AFGHANISTAN: VIGNETTES FROM THE FIELD 
 
REF: (A) KABUL 2939, (B) Kabul 2996, (C) Kabul 3057 
 
¶1. (SBU) Begin Summary.  U.S. civilians in the field continue to 
work closely with the Afghan Government and their military 
colleagues to support governance, economic development, and 
security.  New structures and strategies have been integral to 
placing our people in key positions in the field where they can work 
through Afghan government structures in close collaboration with 
coalition military partners, consistent with the Integrated 
Civilian-Military Campaign Plan for Support to Afghanistan.  This 
cable includes a number of vignettes.  A key focus of civilian 
efforts has been to support the agricultural sector, Afghanistan's 
leading source of revenue (see Ref A).  Many civilians, particularly 
in the South, have been at the front lines to bring governance and 
basic services to communities immediately following military 
operations.  Additionally, programs to develop capacity to improve 
governance and the rule of law are part of the daily activities of 
most officers in the field, while our development officers are 
working on a wide-range of beneficial activities.  Continued 
progress on these and other efforts, and on civilian increase, will 
require additional resources and support from Washington, including 
for security, mobility and "life support" (Refs B and C).  End 
Summary 
 
Creating Structures for Enhanced Civilian Effort 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2. (U) The creation of Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) 
positions in the East and South in July 2009 has been essential to 
bringing increased management, direction, and oversight to civilian 
officers working in the field and has dramatically strengthened the 
civil-military unity of effort.  Since the SCR is the U.S. civilian 
counterpart to the military commander in the Regional Command (RC) 
and coordinates the work of all U.S. civilian personnel in his or 
her region, these officers are able to ensure civilian and military 
capabilities work together to advance our strategic goals.  Similar 
positions are being created in the North and West to enhance the 
unity of effort in those regions (septel). 
 
¶3. (U) An additional area of enhanced unity of effort has been 
tested in the East at the brigade level through the creation of a 
"Board of Directors" approach.  In that case, the Defense, State, 
USAID, and USDA lead representatives each serve on the Board and 
coordinate all activities under his/her assigned line of operation 
(e.g., governance for State) across the brigade's entire area of 
responsibility (AOR).  Under this "hub and spoke" model, one 
civilian supports and directs the efforts of company commanders, 
military civil affairs teams, Agricultural Development Teams (ADTs), 
and others on governance work in multiple districts throughout the 
AOR.  The State officer is also a source of information for those in 
her/his chain as s/he provides reach back to the PRT, the Brigade, 
the regional platform, and ultimately the Embassy. 
 
¶4. (U) Civilian lash-up at ISAF headquarters is also key to 
advancing civil-military integration.  For example, State and USAID 
officers have worked directly with ISAF Headquarters in developing 
ISAF's operational planning and orders, providing vital civilian 
input on how to make rapid gains in governance and development. 
Integrated civilian-military working groups at the Embassy provide 
real-time guidance to teams in the field on issues from 
infrastructure to border management.  This kind of civil-military 
collaboration at all levels of the military structure has made a 
difference.  A Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) Civil Affairs 
Officer told Ambassador Eikenberry that the MEB depends on civilian 
personnel for their expertise, skills (e.g., governance and 
agriculture), and the civilian perspective essential for effective 
counter-insurgency efforts, noting that a conversation between an 
Afghan civilian and a U.S. civilian is qualitatively different than 
with a U.S. soldier. 
 
Augmenting the Afghan Agricultural Sector 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The agricultural sector has been a key area of focus for U.S. 
civilians.  From infrastructure, to capacity building, to training, 
the work has helped augment Afghan capacity.  State and USAID 
representatives, working with local officials in Helmand, assisted 
with the construction of Bost civilian airfield.  Completion of the 
airfield in the center of one of Afghanistan's key agricultural 
regions has resulted in the return of local passenger air service to 
and from Helmand, as well as a commercial air service hub for the 
shipment of local agricultural produce.  The agricultural voucher 
and cash for work program is having good positive impacts in the 
same province (Ref A).  In nearby Zabul province, the USDA 
representative created an extension agent training program for 
agricultural workers from Zabul's remote districts so that thousands 
of subsistence farmers would have access to improved seeds and 
agriculture techniques. 
 
¶6. (U) In the northeastern province of Nuristan, the USDA 
representative worked with UN and local experts to train 
district-level government officials and community representatives 
from across the province in agricultural, forestry, and natural 
resource management techniques.  In RC- East's Kapisa province, 
State, USAID, and USDA officers working with U.S. military were 
instrumental in facilitating formation of a pomegranate cooperative 
in the critical district of Tagab.  As a result of this promising 
initiative, pomegranate sales could quadruple from $800,000 to over 
$5.6 million.  In Kunar to the North, USDA representative supports 
farmer workshops that are assisting 260 farmers in nine districts 
this year on orchard management, crop production, composting, forest 
management, and livestock management. 
 
On the Front Lines: Working in Conflicted Areas 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶7. (U) Often, State, USAID, and USDA officers are called upon to 
work in districts just days after military operations have secured 
an area.  A Marine Expeditionary Brigade commander in the southern 
province of Helmand's Nawa district told Ambassador Eikenberry that 
civilians were essential to the mission, and that a small number 
could make a huge difference.  A few USAID personnel armed with the 
right expertise and flexible, fast dispersing programs were 
invaluable, he said.  USAID and State officers in Helmand Province 
worked closely with the Marines and the UK to develop planning for 
governance immediately following Marine operations in the districts 
of Nawa and Khaneshin, and were instrumental in helping the Afghan 
government (GIRoA) reestablish district governance and basic 
services following the operations.  For example, just 48 hours after 
U.S. Marines had cleared Khaneshin, a USAID rapid response team 
arrived to begin stabilization efforts.  In Farah Province in 
southwestern Afghanistan, State, USAID, and USDA officers worked in 
conjunction with the Marines to help local government officials 
establish basic services as part of the clear-and-hold phase in 
Golistan and Baqwa districts. 
 
¶8. (U) In the West in Herat Province's problematic Guzara district, 
the USAID representative and locally hired deputy field officer are 
facilitating a joint U.S. Special Forces - Herat Health Department 
Medical Combat Assistance Patrol (MEDCAP) and potentially a Basic 
Health Center.  The State representative, working with the PRT 
Commander in the eastern province of Paktya, accompanied Paktya's 
Deputy Governor Mangal to a shura meeting in the Chamkani district 
to help resolve a two-year conflict that has re-emerged on the 
Paktya/Pakistan Border between the Shi'a Turi tribe and the Sunni 
Bushara tribe.  Joined by UNAMA and UNHCR at the shura, the 
delegation was successful in helping stabilize the fragile situation 
through direct interaction with local leadership. 
 
Advancing Governance and Developing Afghan Capacity 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9. (U) Civilians in the field daily interact with and assist the 
development of provincial and district governance.   A brigade 
commander in Parwan, adjacent to Kabul, informed Ambassador 
Eikenberry in September that State Department officers are critical 
to the success of the brigade's work with the local government. 
Foreign Service Officers have training and experience not available 
to soldiers, he said.  The work of our officers can take many forms. 
 For example, the State representative at the brigade level in Logar 
Province in eastern Afghanistan notes joint civilian and military 
engagements have fostered security, governance, development, and 
communications, including helping to establish the pilot Afghan 
Public Protection Program (AP3), which established a local guardian 
force under the direction of the Wardak ANP Chief and the Ministry 
of Interior and to revitalize the provincial development councils, 
which are intended to decide on priority projects.  In the remote 
eastern province of Nuristan, the State officer recently kicked off 
a "model district" program, which transfers to Afghan officials 
responsibility for planning, prioritizing, and budgeting for 
Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP)-funded projects in 
their districts. 
 
¶10. (U) Capacity building is a key element of the work of civilians 
in the field.  In the northeastern province of Kunar, USAID and 
State representatives have worked with the military to train 
students via the Kunar Construction Company.  This program teaches 
fighting age males marketable job skills such as electrical wiring, 
plumbing, rebar bending, woodworking, painting, and masonry.  A ROL 
coordinator in the East is working with military partners to 
facilitate Huqoq legal training, which will train members of the 
Huqoq courts (a civil law mediation and arbitration system headed by 
the Ministry of Justice that relies on some elements of the local 
informal justice system) in order to enhance the Huqoq courts' 
ability to serve as dispute-resolving mechanisms and to develop 
public awareness of legal rights and the GIRoA role.  In the South's 
Helmand Province, the Rule of Law Coordinator has been working with 
the PRT, Marines, and UK Military to enhance GIRoA capacity to 
investigate and prosecute insurgent violence.  In the northern 
province of Kunduz, the State PRT Officer works closely with U.S. 
Police Mentor Teams to design and implement a community-oriented 
policing strategy focused on getting ANP into the community and 
building trust and cooperation with the population.  In Mazar-e 
Sharif, in northern Balkh Province, USAID and State officers worked 
with the Embassy to help the Islamic Investment Finance Corporation 
(IIFC) establish a loan system that so far has provided some 31,000 
Shariat-compliant loans to deserving applicants, amounting to about 
$20 million.  This program touches many modest families and involves 
local communities including women in credit unions previously 
unavailable. 
 
Advancing Women's Issues 
------------------------ 
 
¶11. (U) Advancing opportunities and protections for women also has 
been a key focus of efforts in Afghanistan's provinces.  In Kunar, 
USDA and USAID representatives coordinated with Afghan Conservation 
Corps to hold training sessions for women on home poultry 
production.  In the northern province of Kunduz as well as in 
Badghis to the west, State and USAID PRT Officers work with a 
U.S.-based NGO to secure funding to build a shelter for abused 
women, a project which will significantly improve the situation of 
women suffering from domestic violence. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) As illustrated by these vignettes, U.S. civilians and 
military in the field, working closely with Afghan and coalition 
counterparts, are advancing U.S. policy in Afghanistan despite 
formidable challenges.  Continued progress on governance, economic 
development and security efforts, as well as our civilian increase 
in the field, will depend in large part on additional resources and 
continued support from Washington, including for security, mobility, 
housing and other life support in the field (details provided in 
Refs B and C).  We will provide regular updates on progress and 
challenges. 
 
EIKENBERRY