Motivation to Fight: Present in Iraq, Absent in Afghanistan

In "Afghanistan's Army", The New York Times editorial board today observes:

"Afghan soldiers get about $100 a month, a third of what some local warlords pay fighters, a major reason for desertion.

. . . .

Afghans won’t dare to turn against the Taliban until they know that they can trust their government to protect them rather than abuse them."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/opinion/05sat1.html?hp

Indeed, this is a very cogent argument why Obama's "surge" is destined for failure. In essence, the editorial board is acknowledging that in Afghanistan, fealty at least temporarily can be purchased by the highest bidder, and Afghans have no motivation to fight. Simply ensure that Afghans receive their paychecks and all will be well? Surely The Times editorial board jests. Israeli soldiers are paid little more than the amount paid to Afghan government forces, but they don't desert.

A pity that The Times editorial board is not taking the time to read their lead online item: "Similarities to Iraq Surge Plan Mask Risks in Afghanistan", written by David E. Sanger. According to this article:

"The Iraq surge worked in large part because there was powerful support in Anbar Province from the so-called Awakening, the movement by local Sunni tribes who rose up against extremists who were killing people, forcibly marrying local women and cutting off the hands of men who smoked in public. In Iraq, American officials believed that most leaders of a vigorous opposition, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, were foreigners.

The United States remains hopeful that it can capitalize on Afghan militias that have taken up arms against the Taliban in local areas, but a series of intelligence reports supplied to Mr. Obama since September found no evidence in Afghanistan of anything on the scale of the Iraqi Awakening movement. What’s more, in Afghanistan the extremists, the Taliban, are natives.

'They are part of the furniture in Afghanistan; they have always been there,' one of Mr. Obama’s counterterrorism experts said, explaining why Mr. Obama’s goal is simply to degrade the Taliban’s power, not to defeat the group. In Iraq, the aim was to defeat the insurgents, a goal that has been largely achieved."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/world/05policy.html?hp

Come again? Am I actually reading in The Times that Bush succeeded in Iraq and that Obama, who opposed Bush's Iraqi surge while a U.S. senator, is mimicking the strategy?

But more to the point, the problem in Afghanistan boils down to motivation. Whereas Iraq's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds reject outside oppression and interference, Afghans see little difference between the Taliban and the country's various warlords, all home grown. The only foreigners, i.e. infidels, in Afghanistan today are the U.S. and NATO forces.

Repackage Karzai's image in less than a year and a half? Absolutely. Send David Axelrod and Anita Dunn to Kabul with the message of "Change"; I am certain the Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Turkmen and Qizilbash - particularly the Qizilbash - will be extremely receptive.