tis the season [famous last words]

NYT: US and Afghanistan plan to use local militias
"The militias will be deployed to help American and Afghan security forces, which are stretched far and wide across this mountainous country. The first of the local defense forces are scheduled to begin operating early next year in Wardak Province, an area just outside the capital where the Taliban have overrun most government authority...

But the plan is causing deep unease among many Afghans, who fear that Pashtun-dominated militias could get out of control, terrorize local populations and turn against the government. The Afghan government, aided by the Americans, has carried out several ambitious campaigns since 2001 to disarm militants and gather up their guns. A proposal to field local militias was defeated in the Afghan Senate in the fall.

“There will be fighting between Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns,” said Salih Mohammad Registani, a member of the Afghan Parliament and an ethnic Tajik. Mr. Registani raised the specter of the Arbaki, a Pashtun-dominated militia turned loose on other Afghans early in the 20th century.

“A civil war will start very soon,” he said...

American and Afghan officials say they intend to set up local militias of 100 to 200 fighters in each provincial district, with the fighters being drawn from the villages where they live. (Wardak has eight districts.)

To help ensure the dependability of each fighter, the Americans and Afghans are planning to rely on local leaders, like tribal chiefs and clerics, to choose the militiamen for them. Those militiamen will be given a brief period of training, along with weapons like assault rifles and grenade launchers, and communication gear, said Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan defense minister...

In Iraq, American commanders relied almost exclusively on tribal leaders to put Sunni gunmen at their disposal. But in Afghanistan, 30 years of war has left the tribes scattered and attenuated. American and Afghan leaders say they are instead trying to cobble together councils made up of a wider range of leaders...

American and Afghan officials say that they are confident they can keep the militias under control and that the militias can carry out a range of duties, like providing intelligence on Taliban movements that American and Afghan forces can act on...

In an interview, Mohammed Naim Haqmal, a leader of the Nuri tribe, said the Taliban controlled about 80 percent of Wardak Province — essentially everything except the centers of each district. At night, Mr. Haqmal said, the Taliban range freely, setting up checkpoints and laying bombs for American convoys traveling on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar.

But for all that, Mr. Haqmal said, the Taliban are unpopular in Wardak, mainly because their constant attacks prevent people from leading normal lives. Two months ago, Mr. Haqmal said, a group of villagers from the Jagatoo district rioted when the Taliban blocked a local road in order to stage an attack on some American forces. Taliban fighters opened fire on the villagers, killing five.

“The Taliban want to fight, and that causes problems for the people,” Mr. Haqmal said. “People just want to live their lives.”

Still, Mr. Haqmal said he was skeptical that the government-backed militias could succeed because the Afghan and American officials were bypassing the traditional leaders of the province. So far, he said, they had selected leaders in the community who lacked credibility with the local people. Moreover, Mr. Haqmal said he was worried that the militias would fail to receive proper support and guidance from the government, and end up starting tribal feuds with members of the Taliban. “We already have the Afghan Army and police — they should stick with them,” Mr. Haqmal said.

A Taliban commander based in Wardak Province, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear that he would become a target, predicted that the government militias would find it hard to put down roots in the area, if only because the Taliban had already done so.

'We are living in the districts, in the villages — we are not living in the mountains,' the Taliban chief said. 'The people are with us.' "

WSJ: disuptes that the militias will receive weapons, suggests possibility of attracting Taliban defectors
"In the first phase of the pilot program, villages throughout Wardak will convene "shura" meetings of local tribal, religious and political figures. The community elders will then be responsible for recruiting the local militias and overseeing their conduct.

As in Iraq, the new Afghan militias will be paid by the U.S. A senior American military official in Kabul said the money would likely be first funneled to the individual village shuras, which would in turn be charged with disbursing salaries to their fighters.

The U.S. won't provide weapons or ammunition to the militias, but the local forces will be allowed to keep and use the weapons they already have. "The honest truth is that these guys don't need us to give them guns," the U.S. official said.

Gov. Fidai said that he hopes the local militias will attract some former insurgents, potentially boosting the Afghan government's efforts to win over moderate members of the Taliban."

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