The differences between Afghanistan and Iraq could not be more striking.  In 2006, Afghanistan had an 18% economic growth rate. Shops are open daily. Noisy construction projects are in progress throughout the country.

Sidewalk restaurants are jammed with customers sipping chai while eating pilau and kebabs, as are the roads, which teem with some absolutely frustrating traffic jams, as well as children -- and adults -- who smile and wave as Americans drive by.  Busy truck stops and gas stations are covered with “help-wanted” signs in both Dari and English. The lights are on at night. 

There are more subtle differences also. Afghans work on the many American military bases located in their country, and many American Marines and soldiers take classes in Dari and Pashtu. Local citizens come on base in order to sell rugs, furs, brassware, stone ornaments, and other local handicrafts while Americans read books like Khaled Hossani’s The Kite Runner, Steven Pressfield’s The Afghan Campaign, and the old Rudyard Kipling story “The Man who Would Be King.” There is an interaction and mutual interest between the two cultures that is refreshing to observe.

It is worth noting that the majority of the Afghan people seem to want to win this war. There is a national identity -- a pride in being an Afghan -- that I did not observe as strongly in Iraq. The Marine and Army field-grade officers are using this pride to full advantage. Nation-building works best in those areas where the local populace wants to build a nation. After 32 years of civil war, Russian invasion, and Taliban fundamentalism, the Afghan people want their country back.

In simple terms, the NATO strategy here is to interdict and suppress the Taliban recruits flooding over the border from Pakistan (which is how the Taliban seeks to destabilize the country), while simultaneously modernizing the Afghan Army, Police, and Border Police. With Quetta, Pakistan, being recognized as the Taliban headquarters, the NATO forces are fighting in the mountains and training the Afghan security forces.

This war is international. The Canadian and British troops are doing some heroic fighting in Helmand Province. Germans are training the Afghan tank battalion. Mongolians are conducting artillery training. And the Americans -- the 10th Mountain Division and the small Marine teams -- are holding their own in Kunar, Pech, and the Kornegal regions to the east. And that’s only a few snapshots. Several dozen countries are involved, both officially and unofficially.

But in large part, the war is becoming an Afghan-led activity. It’s the implementation of the Embedded Training Teams (ETT’s) strategy that is successfully training the ANA, ANP, and the ABP to take control of their country’s defense. The bravery and courage of the individual Afghan soldier is admirable. These young men run towards gunfire. But the ETT’s are here to combine their innate courage with current tactical, logistical, and administrative practices.

I embedded with Task Force Phoenix V, the unit responsible for multinational ETT training throughout the country. While I was with these men, I was able to talk with a few of the leading Afghan and American soldiers and Marines about what’s causing this difference. One of them was Afghan National Army Major General Munir Mohammed Mangal.

General Mangal commands the 201st Afghan Corps. He is professional, well-studied, and reputed (by his NATO and American compatriots) to be the best Afghan Army commanding general in the country. Professional & well-studied. The Marines sent him to Okinawa to see and understand how they train, as he wants to pattern the 201st Corps after the USMC. 

In an exclusive interview with ON Point, General Mangal shared these comments:

*The Afghan National Army is only 5 years old.  It was built up from one battalion to one brigade, to one Corps.  Mangal’s 201st was the first Corps, and his personnel were used to seed the others Corps.

*The ANA gets on the job training. They do not have the luxury of school training as the General needs his men in the field ASAP. The ETT’s are life-savers in providing assistance and confidence as his men fight and learn simultaneously.

*The ANA is 70,000 strong and recruits nationally, not ethnically. Army is deliberately ethnically balanced in order to make it a national army vs. sectarian militias.

*The ANA understands the need to establish a tradition of excellence. Is developing classes for his Staff Noncommissioned Officers. They want, specifically, to build the best SNCO corps in the Central Asian region over the next few years.

*General Mangal repeatedly thanked his advisor, Col Philip Smith, USMC, for his mentorship, assistance and staff support, and for sending 5 – 10 of his better Afghan soldiers to Bridgeport, California, for mountain warfare training.  [In a written response to ON Point, Smith, pictured above with the general, pointed out that Mangal was initially mentored by Col Jerry Smith (no relation indicated).]

*The General is very appreciative of USA assistance. Current state of ANA would not have been possible without USA.

*“Success here is far different than in Iraq,” said Col Philip Smith, commenting that while providing security is of obvious importance, so is providing the infrastructure and planning that keeps a country running well.

So long as the mission remains to stand up Afghanistan to where it can defend and govern itself as a nation, I think this is a winnable war. The danger, in my view, comes from dreamers, neophytes, and desk jockeys in Washington -- the same folks who forgot about Osama, took their eye off the ball, and brought the CPA into Iraq. Some in Washington, I’m told, seem to be pushing to build a permanent bureaucracy. If that happens, Afghanistan will not move towards democracy.

But proper and long-distance support -- that’s hands-off and common sense -- will give General Mangal and his Afghan soldiers, Lt. Buddy Rushing and his ETT team at Torkham Gate, Maj. Miguel Goodpasture and his warriors at Camp Joyce, and the thousands of men and women from over sixty nations who are training and rebuilding Afghanistan, the time and equipment they need to beat the Taliban.