[R-G] U.S. at disadvantage in Afghan insurgent hotbed

[Anthony Fenton]

U.S. at disadvantage in Afghan insurgent hotbed
Jason Motlagh, Chronicle Foreign Service
Thursday, December 11, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/11/MNQH14DRPH.DTL 
	

(12-11) 04:00 PST Jalrez Valley, Afghanistan --


Creeping out from a lonely hilltop outpost of dirt-filled blast  
barriers and razor wire, more than 40 U.S. armored vehicles turn onto  
Afghanistan's Highway One in blackout mode, switching off headlights  
to foil Taliban lookouts. Their destination: the Jalrez Valley, an  
ambush-ready stretch of fruit orchards and rocky slopes that cuts  
through restive Wardak province, 25 miles southwest of Kabul, the  
capital.

In the past year, the Taliban and other insurgent groups in Wardak  
have increased their attacks by 58 percent, the U.S. military says.  
And with deadly frequency, the militants use the valley to launch  
attacks on Kabul and a national highway that is the economic lifeline  
to the southern part of the country.

As a result, they have made alarming gains in Wardak. A shadow Taliban  
government collects taxes and runs roadside checkpoints, according to  
intelligence reports and residents, while fighters - many of them  
foreign - are largely free to train and stash arms and kidnap victims  
with little interference.

The surging Taliban, the weakness of Afghan security forces, and the  
prospect of mass voter intimidation ahead of next year's national  
elections have forced the U.S.-led coalition to pay closer attention  
to Wardak, and in particular, the Jalrez Valley.
Firebase set up

In the spring, Lt. Larry Kay of the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 506th  
Infantry arrived in the valley to set up a firebase. For the next six  
months, he says, he never had a day off, beating back 27 attacks in  
June alone. Of the 70 men in his company, 30 have been wounded and two  
have been killed.

"The (insurgents) are very aggressive and highly trained, always ready  
to exploit a weakness," said Kay, who is from Deerfield Beach, Fla.  
"You will not have an advantage in Jalrez."

In late November, more than 400 battalion troops embarked on a  
disruptive operation into the Jalrez Valley from their base in western  
Paktika province. The long trip got off to a rough start. In  
neighboring Ghazni province, an improvised explosive device blew up  
under an Afghan police Ford Ranger pickup at the front of the convoy,  
killing two and wounding four. The $270 million U.S.-funded highway  
that connects Kabul with the southern city of Kandahar looked like a  
vehicle graveyard - lined with burned-out delivery trucks scarred by  
bomb blasts.

It was still dark when the convoy reached the Jalrez Valley. Moving  
into defensive positions, American forces established a command  
perimeter in the village of Eshma-Kheyl in case of an insurgent attack.

"It's almost too quiet," said Capt. Spencer Wallace of McComb, Miss.,  
while scanning the rows of adobe compounds. "They knew we were coming."

As other platoons moved house-to-house to check for Taliban fighters,  
Wallace assembled a small group of tribal elders for a mini-shura, or  
meeting, in one of the elders' carpeted living room. In the Pashtu  
language, he exchanged pleasantries with the bearded men, noting that  
it was the first time that his troops had entered the valley without  
coming under fire.

Village elder Zabiullah Ameri then assured Wallace that his village  
supports the Afghan government and welcomed the Americans as brothers.  
"Why, then, are there so many attacks against us in this valley?"  
Wallace asked.

"We are like a soccer ball. Everyone who comes through wants to kick  
us," said another elder who wore a white head wrap. "We don't know who  
is our enemy and who is our friend."

The elders then guaranteed security of the U.S. troops in Eshma-Kheyl,  
although they said they could not vouch for neighboring villages.

"It's the same language all the time: 'There's no enemy here,' "  
Wallace later said. "People are just waiting to see which way the wind  
blows ... We don't hold that against them, understanding it as a  
characteristic of where they feel trapped."

Later that day, intelligence reports indicated that several men in the  
area were known to harbor Taliban militants. Baker Company then fanned  
out to red-flag suspected safe houses and search for weapons caches.  
In a home owned by a man named Wazir, they found a book of telephone  
numbers and black-and-white photos that appeared to be of Taliban  
fighters. A plate of half-eaten rice suggested Wazir had left in a  
hurry.

Word soon arrived that a weapons cache of old grenades and rocket- 
propelled grenade fuses had been found in a shed at the edge of an  
apple orchard astride the paved valley road. Most had been destroyed,  
though some items were given to cash-strapped Afghan soldiers  
supporting the U.S. operation.

"Counterinsurgency is about achieving effects on the battlefield every  
day," said Lt. Col. Tony Demartino, the operation commander. "If  
you're always looking for gold rings, you're gonna continue to miss  
buckets of brass rings."

Moments later, the crack of artillery in the distance interrupted what  
had been a quiet day. Alpha Company, which had been assigned to  
protect the southern ridge, had been targeted by two errant rockets.  
Rolling clouds and a flurry of snow signaled a fight was brewing, yet  
a nervous calm held. The soldiers spent the night in Eshma-Kheyl,  
officers sleeping on a villager's living room floor, the soldiers in  
their vehicles.

The next morning brought a change of plans, and several unexpected  
visitors.

The 1st Battalion had planned to distribute food and winter clothes  
before returning to base at noon. But villagers panicked after an F-15  
fighter jet flew low over the valley at about 500 feet. When an Afghan  
general who had been contacted by Demartino arrived, U.S. officers put  
him in charge of handing out cooking oil, flour and sweaters. The  
general arrived with the new governor of Wardak province, Muhammad  
Halim Fedayi, who had decided to pay his first visit to the valley.
Governor uncomfortable

The governor, visibly ill at ease being so deep inside an insurgent  
stronghold, said a quick prayer to the crowd and pledged to do more to  
assert the state's authority. Demartino then proposed that the  
governor make an impromptu visit to the district center a few miles  
down the road as a symbolic gesture. He agreed and stopped there for  
less than 10 minutes surrounded by U.S. and Afghan soldiers.  
"Everybody appreciates a bit of security," said Maj. Rob Fouche.

Meanwhile, some locals worried that any short-term presence by U.S.  
troops might do more harm than good.

"We are scared because someone might tell the Taliban that we talked  
with the Americans and they will kill us," said Delawar, 34, a truck  
driver from Eshma-Kheyl.

Muhammad Hosseini, a Jalrez Valley native who recently returned after  
spending five years in Manchester, England, lamented how dangerous the  
area has become.

U.S. forces "are here now but they will be gone soon," he said. "The  
Taliban will be back."

E-mail Jason Motlagh at foreign at sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 21 of the San Francisco Chronicle