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CIVPOL Diary: A lesson on insurgencies
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By Insp. Joe McAllister
Afghanistan — I just finished a great experience on the Counter Insurgency Leadership course. This week long course is held at Camp Julien, our old Canadian camp when the military first came into Afghanistan. It is located on the outskirts of Kabul and sits between two bombed-out palaces.
The palaces were built about 70 years ago by the King, who had traveled throughout Europe and really like the architecture. The two palaces were a few kilometers apart and one of them sits within the camp’s boundaries, so we were able to go inside and see it as it once could have been.
The rooms were massive and the view of the city, mountains and stables below were absolutely incredible. And more notable was that one of the Afghan National Army (ANA) colonels on the course told us the story of how he was there once shooting tank shots at the castle. He pointed out various holes in the building that were his shots. It was wild watching him walk around the building that only a few years earlier he had tried to destroy. In fact, the place was full of tank shots, bullet holes, and yet still stood pretty majestic.
We had many different nations on this course — Australians, Americans, British, Danish, Swedes, Norwegians and Canadians. There were also representatives from the ANA, Afghan National Police, political officers, aid workers and other civilians. It allowed for a great mixture of ideas on how to deal with the insurgency. I think a lot of us had pre-conceived ideas coming in. I was challenged on some of the concepts, but once put into context it all made a lot of sense. We also had speakers from various Aghan ministries, international and local media, presentations from Provincial Reconstruction Teams, non-governmental organizations, and military leaders from the US and ISAF. All provided good information and evoked some interesting responses from the crowd.
In our syndicates we worked on the fundamentals of insurgencies. We had four practical tests to work on. We had to plan an insurgency, defeat one, plan development and aid and establish government plans. During each of these, we worked with our Afghan counterparts to get their views on how things should be done.
We made good contacts with various intelligence groups working around the country, contractors, and of course we learned about how other parts of the country are fairing. In talking to the participants from the North, I found out that their camp has some 2,500 people, but only about 50 can go outside the wire on a daily basis.
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Interestingly enough, Frank and I were the only international police officers on the course. Canada has been sending a few on this course and it goes a long way as the some of the concepts promoted in the course are used by international police.
Next week I will be seeing how Focused District Development (FDD) is working in our two districts of Zhari and Panjway and working on plans to bring FDD to Kandahar city.
I hope you are all keeping well. Chat to you all soon
Joe
