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By: Army Staff Sgt Brandon Pomrenke
KABUL, Afghanistan – Jan. 29 saw ISAF and local leaders brought together by local radio journalists to discuss measures that may help Afghans help reduce and, hopefully, eliminate civilian casualties throughout the country.
The discussions, which are to be broadcast in both Dari and Pashto, feature Sgt. Maj. Don Rangel, ISAF Joint Command’s operations sergeant major, Current Operations, in interviews with Gen. Zalmai Wardak, Col. Ishaq Paiman, Col. Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amin Yousef Zazai, for the Alam radio program’s roundtable discussion on keeping Afghan civilians safe when approaching ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces troops.
Wardak, a former general of the Ministry of the Interior, and Paiman, who works in the media department at the Ministry of Defense, discussed the efforts of ANSF and ISAF leadership thus far to keep civilians safe.
“We are looking to help secure Afghanistan,” said Rangel. “We want [the Afghans] to understand their safety is our biggest concern.”
In a war fought without clear lines, it has been difficult at times to see a clear enemy of the security forces operating throughout Afghanistan. The best way to stay safe is to be aware of the surroundings and how those security personnel work. A prime example is at military and police checkpoints.
“If its a checkpoint, my best advice is to the individual driving a car,” explained Rangel. “That individual should stop prior to the checkpoint, observe their surroundings and go ahead and listen to what coalition or ANSF is telling them to do and diligently comply with their request because we’re looking at ISAF forces and also coalition forces or ANSF, looking to protect and secure the population of Afghanistan.”
While there are measures in place to keep civilians out of harm’s way, there are still challenges that face security forces.
“Some of the challenges we face are communications between coalition forces and the Afghan populace,” Rangel said. “But our main message is to ensure that they understand their security and safety is the utmost of our concern.
Civilian casualties happen, first off, because of lack of awareness,” explained Wardak. “Many are illiterate and they don’t know how to communicate. As [Rangel] said, the biggest problem we are facing is communicating with the Afghan population.”
Wardak went on to explain that another problem facing Afghan civilians is that ISAF troops may not always understand the area where they are working or understand the culture.
“I understand that ISAF is continually working on its policies and procedures to improve,” said Rangel. “General Petraeus [the commander of ISAF and US troops in Afghanistan] is diligently working with civilian authorities to ensure that they safeguard [the Afghans] and the security of the people of Afghanistan continues.”
The later interview with Asif, who also works with the MOD media department, and Zazai, a former general, hit points about the combined efforts of ISAF and ANSF to avoid civilian casualties.
“Every time we go out and do an operation, our first and foremost priority is to minimize civilian casualties,” said Asif. “We don’t want civilian casualties happening and we take every single step ensuring that these kinds of incidents don’t take place.”
Although steps are taken to protect civilians, inevitably every available effort just is not enough. Civilians can help themselves and their families, however. Afghans can share their experiences and work with the government and security officials to help reduce casualties.
“It is a fact and something that cannot be neglected that when there is a war, there are going to be civilian casualties,” explained Asif. “For this reason, the people of Afghanistan need to be one with the government and they need to support the government in order to reduce that risk of having civilian casualties [during] operations.”
An argument posed by Zazai was that one contributing factor to the number of civilian casualties is the fact that many Afghans and ANSF do not know who they are fighting. He went on to explain that the intent of ISAF and coalition troops may be good, but they do not understand the political climate and need to learn how to better support Afghans.
“Once ISAF crosses that line, civilian casualties will be minimized,” said Zazai.
Rangel explained to Zazai that coalition forces are taught at least a basic understanding of Afghan culture and history before they deploy. Those lessons may help to create a further respect for the history and culture of the country in which they are fighting.
If they’re working to protect the Afghan civilians, then we support it,” Zazai replied. “It’s a good incentive. The behavior with the Afghan civilians should be good; they should treat them as human beings. The other thing is that they should have a deep understanding of the culture and values in Afghanistan.
“All coalition forces respect Afghan culture and traditions,” said Rangel. “At times we have to be direct, but it’s to ensure safety. The Afghans have a very rich culture and we respect that culture. We try to view things from an Afghan perspective.”
The understanding of Afghan values, traditions and how to best communicate with civilians and security forces alike may help continue to minimize casualties throughout Afghanistan.
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2011 05:55 |
| Story ID: | 64461 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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