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Christian Living

bootsontheground 11/24/09

Economic Downturn Hits Afghan Insurgents

Picture 256For over a thousand years before Christ, the Nabataean city of Petra was one of the most important, and unique trading centers in the area known as Edom, which is in the modern-day kingdom of Jordan.  its uniqueness was the way it was built - a self-sufficient city of stone located at the bottom of a long, 600-foot deep canyon in the desert.  Better than any fortress, the Nabataeans had only to defend a ten-foot-wide slot canyon that served as the city's only entrance, and for this reason, the city was never conquered in over a millenia.  When the Romans set their sights on Petra, it soon became clear that capturing the city through military means would be far too costly, and so the Romans took a different tack - they bought the city out around 64 BC and later annexed it without a fight.

Fast forward to Iraq in 2006/2007.  The US began offering rewards of several hundred dollars for any explosives that were turned in to US forces by local civilians.  Even more was offered for information leading to the arrest of anyone on the US's "most wanted" list.  The reasoning made perfect sense - every humvee that we lose to an IED is worth at least $140,000, not including the economic value of each warrior inside, which is probably half a million apiece. (to say nothing of the priceless human lives).  So if you say each lost humvee costs the taxpayer $650,000, which is undoubtedly a terrible understatement, each IED we purchase for $300 represents a potential savings to the taxpayer of around $649,700.00 

And it worked.  Once the program was announced in Iraq, citizens began lining up at the gates of US bases, turning in ordnance.  After all, the reward money equaled a month's pay, and if Grandpa had a few dozen artillery rounds in a hole in the backyard, a family could practically get rich.

Then, the program was extended to people.  Commanders began using discretionary funds to hire young military-age males who might have otherwise been tempted to work for the insurgency (who was also hiring, albeit at a slightly reduced rate and with a really shoddy retirement package).  These men were put to work manning checkpoints in their own neighborhoods and were initially dubbed "neighborhood watch" programs.  Eventually the name was changed to a more flowery "sons of Iraq."

Don't get me wrong, the Iraqis were tired of war, and tired of Al Qaeda abuses in their neighborhoods.  This had much to do with the "Awakening" that began in Anbar province and eventually spread to the whole country.  But trading in your suicide vest for a safety vest and $300 a month wasn't a bad deal, either.  And thousands of Iraqis took the offer.  One night back in December 2007 I had the opportunity to share a meal with a group of men in the Arab Jabbour district who two weeks before had been Al Qaeda foot soldiers, but had decided to switch sides when they realized the grass was greener working with the US instead of against them.

Money talks.  T091111-A-8113L-007hat's why U.S. commanders are now extending the same terms to some of the bad guys or would-be bad guys in Afghanistan, and apparently it is working.  According to a recent press release by ISAF in Afghanistan, A taliban baddie named Hadji Kaduz recently surrendered to US Special Operations forces with about sixty of his men, and pledged their allegiance to the Afghan government.  In exchange, they were guaranteed jobs as Afghan National Policemen working to support the country instead of working to tear it down.

I don't know if the pay is much better, but by the looks of the long road that Afghanistan has yet to travel before there is a need to start laying off policemen, it's certain that this is one profession with sky-high job security.

Is this a good idea?  Some might find it distasteful, but it certainly makes economic sense.  Maybe some of the 610 billion just allocated for the war will go toward buying out the bad guys.  Let's hope it has the same effect in Afghanistan as it helped bring in Iraq.

One other note here - you haven't heard about this in the mainstream media because nobody got hurt.  But the best bombs are the ones that never get planted, and the best enemies are the ones you can turn into a friend without a fight.

 

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