'Using Afghan Militias To Keep Peace Wouldn't Work In The South: Thompson', The Canadian Press, 15 December 2008
EXCERPT: "The possibility of creating tribal militias in order to fight the Taliban and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan likely won't work in all regions of the country, says the commander of Task Force Kandahar. U.S. commanders have said that Afghan tribes are needed as crucial battlefield allies against the Taliban and other extremists in the same way local Sunni militias rose up to oppose al-Qaida fighters in Iraq's western Anbar province. The tactic has long been endorsed by Gen. David Petraeus, the former top U.S. military official in Iraq who now oversees the Afghan war as commander of U.S. Central Command. But there are some crucial differences between Afghanistan and Iraq, said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, who oversees Canada's operations in Kandahar. 'It makes more sense in the East, to be frank, because there's quite a difference in the tribes on the Pakistani side of the border in RC East than on the Afghan side,' Thompson said. However, the same approach may not work in Kandahar province, where Canadian troops continue to battle daily against Taliban insurgents crossing the border from Pakistan who are Pashtuns, already the dominant tribal force in the region."
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Related posts:
'Tribal leaders to sabotage West's assault on Taliban', 4 December 2008
'US: Tribal leaders still in charge', 28 February 2008
'UK plan to arm tribal militas could fuel violence: ISAF Commander', 3 January 2008
'Beyond Warlordism: The local security architecture in Afghanistan', 19 October 2007
'Pushtuns, tribalism, leadership, Islam and Taliban', 16 November 2007
