Troops seek to replicate gains in Afghan village

Troops seek to replicate gains in Afghan village
By Drew Brown
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 12, 2010

DEH-E-BAGH, Afghanistan — In June 2009, then commander of international forces in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal hailed the counterinsurgency strategy employed by Canadian troops here as a “thinking man’s effort.”

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the effort was “exactly the approach we will pursue in coming years.”

Now U.S. soldiers, who took over operations here in April, are trying to replicate the Canadian “key village” approach in other areas throughout Dand district, on the southern outskirts of Kandahar city.

American commanders say they see signs of success, with Afghan village elders and tribal leaders cooperating closely with them on security, governance and development issues in ways that are rarely seen in southern Afghanistan.

But the architect of the “key village” strategy says it’s unlikely to work as a model for counterinsurgency elsewhere in Afghanistan.