Tribal Engagement: A Silver Bullet?

The Way Ahead in Afghanistan: Does a Silver Bullet Exist? An Analysis of Giving Power Over to the Tribes to Achieve Victory — Major Nathan Springer, U.S. Army/ U.S. Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center.

MAJ Jim Gant has initiated healthy discussion and analysis concerning the way ahead in Afghanistan by publishing his bold paper “One Tribe At A Time.” the level of interest and dialogue it has stimulated within the COIN community is extremely positive, whether you agree or disagree with his conclusions.

I agreed with many of MAJ Gant’s points, particularly his thesis. “The answer to the problems that face the Afghan people, as well as other future threats to US security in the region, will be found in understanding and then helping the tribal system of Afghanistan to flourish.” I couldn’t agree more. At this point in the game, it seems to me that leaders understand this war will be won at the local, village, and tribal level up, rather than from the central/government level down. Like MAJ Gant, I am one soldier sharing one hard-earned perspective on the Afghanistan puzzle. Please understand that I do not wish to imply that my time in Afghanistan gave me all the answers. Truly, it left me with more questions than answers. But the pivotal piece of MAJ Gant’s proposed solution to Afghani empowerment runs so counter to the realities I grappled with there, I feel I must add my voice, in a formal way, to this discourse.

I strongly disagree with MAJ Gant’s ideas on how to go about empowering the tribal system in Afghanistan. Even referring to that nation’s labyrinth of tribes as “the” system over-simplifies the situation on the ground. A complicated web of Afghani tribes, sects, sub-tribes, and clans have existed there for hundreds of years, inextricably bound to that nation’s history, culture, and families…

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