Did you know that reports indicate Afghans believe the Taliban are the key to US Aid projects?

MAJ Alvin B. — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 19:54:33 -0500

The NY Times reports that a study indicates that Afghans see the Taliban as a key to US Aid projects.

The report indicates that villagers believe US Aid projects would not have been allowed without the Taliban's approval, indicating that the US projects are actually enhancing support for the Taliban.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/16/us/politics/afghans-see-taliban-as-a-key-to-us-aid-projects-study-finds.html?ribbon-ad-idx=10&rref=politics&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Politics&pgtype=article

Afghans See Taliban as a Key to U.S. Aid Projects, Study Finds

Villagers believed that U.S.A.I.D. projects would not have been allowed without the Taliban’s approval, so their support for the Taliban grew, a study found.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 8:09 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:09:57 -0500

Looks like their propaganda machine may be working better than ours in some places.

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Dec 16 at 2015 12:55 AM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:55:27 -0500

At the local (Villager) level, in many cases this is true.....which is why FID is so important and the big machine is often removed from the reality of the ground truth....bottom line is that it takes security to complete these USAID projects. Once completed, the Taliban have the luxury of owning/limiting local villagers use of that very resource....thus at the end of the day it appears as though the Talib allows/brings the resources to them.