The Funny-Sounding Germans

(N.B.: I've decided to resume posting here on an as-often-as-I-can basis, despite not being in Afghanistan for the moment. Please try to contain your glee)

Warning: Afghan geography ahead. Please consult this map liberally, and try to ignore the fact that no two people transliterate from Dari or Pashto the same way.

One of the things that has struck me most in the conversations I've had with people in the U.S. since returning from Afghanistan two and a half months ago is the degree to which most people do not understand the composition of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This is likely because Americans heard (and gave) so much grief about how the Iraq War was America's personal crusade against [fill in the blank] that they have simply assumed that the war in Afghanistan is the same scenario. After all, they both started shortly after September 11, 2001, right? And they are both wars in Muslim countries, right? And we are, to use one of my favorite military/journalistic euphemisms, "bogged down" in both places, right?

Well, yes to all three of those (admittedly rhetorical) questions. But that does not mean that the wars are being fought the same way. Many, if not most, Americans seem to have forgotten that ISAF is a truly multi-national coalition. And despite the fact that ISAF's commander, Gen. John R. Allen, is an American, that does not mean that ISAF is a monolithic, and monolithically American, entity, especially from the point of view of the average Afghan.

For an Afghan, the most visible unit of international military presence in his country is the Provincial Reconstruction Team, or PRT. Most, but not all, of the provinces in Afghanistan have a PRT, which are grouped into sixregional commands (RCs): RC-North in Mazar-e-Sharif Province, RC-West in Herat Province, RC-Southwest in Helmand Province, RC-South in Kandahar Province, RC-East in Kabul Province, and RC-Capital in Kabul city. As the name suggests, the goal of the PRTs is to support reconstruction work in their respective provinces. This being Afghanistan, however, many PRTs in practice function as military command centers just as much as they do city planners. Tellingly, there has traditionally only been one PRT with a civilian commander: the PRT in Panjshir, which is by far the safest province in Afghanistan. More importantly for the average Afghan, the PRT serves as the place where he can communicate with the international military forces active in his province on his own terms. Personnel from the PRT attend meetings of development councils, advise Afghan political assemblies, and coordinate operations with the Afghan police and army. Each PRT has significant latitude to conduct operations within its jurisdiction as it sees fit.

So what kind of faces do Afghans see at these PRTs? Not just Americans, not by any stretch of the imagination. The US does command a dozen or so PRTs, and no other ISAF country commands more than one; we also command the two largest and most strategically important RCs, RC-South and RC-East. But RC-West, for example, is commanded by the Italians (it also serves as the PRT for Herat Province). RC-North, in Kunduz Province, is led by Germans, and RC-Southwest is British territory. On the PRT level, there is even more variety. As a few examples, there are Lithuanians commanding the PRT in Ghor, Spaniards in Badghis, Koreans in Parwan, Turks in Wardak, Kiwis in Bamiyan, and Hungarians in Baghlan.

The major effect of all of this, of course, is that Afghans' experiences with the foreign militaries in their country really do vary dramatically from place to place. They are not always interacting with Americans, nor always even with Europeans, so they cannot paint the troops with such broad brushes. Instead, the catch-all word used is kharijan--"foreigners" (literally, "people from outside"). When Afghans want to be critical of overarching principles or themes of the war, they cannot always point the finger back at America, or at any other single country. The simple fact that Afghans encounter a whole range of nationalities at the various PRTs makes it more difficult for them to cast blame reflexively. Which can only be a good thing, for everyone involved.

Of course, this plethora of different countries also produces some comic moments, one of which produced the post's title. Let me conclude with two of my favorites:

1. The Italian PRT in Herat is said to have some of the best food, and the best atmosphere, of any restaurant in the country. In true Italian style, the Italian PRT contains what very reliable sources say is a spot-on replica of a traditional Italian trattoria, of the sort that would not look out of place in a small Tuscan village. They also are said to import wine and other staples of Italian cuisine directly from Italy on a near-daily basis. You have to love the Italians.

2.While Afghans are generally an extremely savvy and street-smart people, they sometimes have trouble differentiating the various countries of the world. This is apparently a particular problem in Kunduz Province, which has a large detachment of German troops supported by some Belgians (as well as other nations). According to a colleague who has spent significant time in Kunduz, most locals there have a devil of a time differentiating the Germans and the Belgians. Most Afghans actually have a relatively good knowledge of Germany, as Germany contains a sizable Afghan expatriate population. But most rural Afghans have never encountered Belgium, which, inconveniently enough, has a flag that is easily confused with the German flag (most Afghans identify foreign troops by the flags on their vehicles or the flag patches on their uniforms). The confusion was summed up by one resident of Kunduz, who, in a move that would make most of Belgium seethe, told my colleague during an interview that there were two different foreign forces in his area: "the Germans, and the funny-sounding Germans."

Next time: Narc-itecture!