U.S. seizes 'moment' to try to flip Taliban
The top coalition commander in Afghanistan
told USA TODAY on Wednesday that he has ordered a "surge" in efforts to
get Taliban fighters to renounce violence and return to village life
based on recent intelligence suggesting they feel abandoned by their
leaders.
Marine Gen. John Allen
said the effort aims to quickly capitalize on plunging morale among
insurgents in southern Afghanistan, once the backbone of the Taliban
movement, and to lure militants back to their homes with jobs and other
incentives.
"Now is the moment," Allen said in an interview from Kabul.
Commanders
have said they have picked up "chatter" from insurgents in the south
suggesting they are angry that their top leaders have remained in
Pakistan and other sanctuaries.
"Many of these
fighters who have been on the battlefield for a whole variety of
reasons have felt they have been abandoned by their intermediate Taliban
leadership," Allen said.
Afghan-led
government efforts to reintegrate low-level fighters have been going on
for more than a year, but Allen says he is redoubling efforts to take
advantage of tactical gains by coalition troops. Allen assumed command
in Afghanistan six weeks ago from Army Gen. David Petraeus, who retired Wednesday to head the CIA.
Allen
helped spearhead efforts in western Iraq in 2007 to nurture and expand a
tribal-based movement opposed to the insurgency. The movement, known
as the Sunni Awakening, helped reverse insurgents' gains.
In
Afghanistan, nearly 2,400 former fighters have gone through a
reintegration program, and 3,000 more are waiting to do so. The program
provides former militants with training and jobs to ease their
reintegration into society.
Reintegration
hasn't led to a groundswell of fighters switching sides yet, said
Jeffrey Dressler, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. He
said militants remain wary of whether the Afghan government and
coalition can protect them if they switch sides, and they are unsure
that the government can defeat the Taliban, which has killed some
fighters who have switched sides.
Success on
the battlefield is an important component of persuading fighters to lay
down their arms and rejoin society, commanders say.
"Nobody reintegrates to the losing side," said Marine Gen. James Mattis, commander of Central Command, which oversees operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "That's just not human nature."
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