Americans Aiding Anti-Taliban Militias in Afghanistan

The American military has enacted a risky, but potentially winning, policy of providing aid to local Afghan militias that have voluntarily taken up arms to fight the Taliban. The surge in the number of local militias battling the Taliban without any encouragement from either American or Afghan forces has been a huge encouragement to Americans who want to see Afghans play a greater role in protecting their own country. Special Forces units are dropping in to remote areas of Afghanistan and offering assistance—in the form of ammunition, food, and a line of communiction to the Afghan army. Americans say they hope to provide communications equipment and maybe even training to the local groups soon. However, by aiding the militias, the official armies run the risk that local groups could turn against each other or American or Afghan forces. For now, the armies don't have to worry about the wisdom of providing Afghan civilians with guns. Everyone already has one.

Read original story in The New York Times | Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009