Civilian surge in Afghanistan
Can Obama’s surge be described as a joint civilian and military effort?
A special report by the inspector general for Afghanistan’s reconstruction has revealed the so-called civilian surge is facing obstacles and needs further examinaton.
The idea behind the surge is that while the number of troops on the ground increases, so too do civilian employees to help with reconstruction.
The report reveals that 1,500 people from 16 different US agencies are being deployed. More than half are on the ground, the rest are to follow suit by January 2012.
But for something called a civilian-military partnership, the numbers seem unbalanced – the US has about 100,000 troops in the country.
Can Obama’s surge be described as a joint civilian and military effort? Or is it a military campaign with a civilian fig leaf?
Joining the programme are Daoud Sultanzoy, a member of the Afghan Parliament, Emmanuel Reinert, the executive director of the International Council on Security and Development, and Christopher Preble, the director of foreign policy at the think tank – the CATO institute.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Wednesday, October 27, 2010.