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The US military in Afghanistan is to be allowed to pay Taliban fighters who renounce violence against the government in Kabul. The move is included in a defense bill which President Obama has signed. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), has said he envisages the money being used to pay former Taliban fighters to protect their communities. Katy Clark talks with Senator Levin.
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KATY CLARK: As we heard a minute ago, the US paid insurgents in Iraq to stop fighting American troops, and it worked. Some 90,000 Sunni militants joined the Awakening Councils in exchange for about $300 a month. Now Congress wants to use that strategy in Afghanistan. The defense spending bill that President Obama signed yesterday includes a provision allowing the Pentagon to reward Taliban fighters who renounce the insurgency. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin was behind that provision. Senator Levin, how exactly is this going to work. I mean, given an Afghan government and society that’s so rife with corruption, don’t you start getting into trouble when you offer money for allegiance?
CARL LEVIN: Well, you sure have to be cautious, but there was plenty of corruption in Iraq as well, but they worked out a plan to provide this very small stipend to about 90,000 Iraqis to switch sides, and instead of fighting us, to protect their communities. That’s what most of them are doing. They’re involved in security protection work to see if they can’t make their villages and towns safer. About 10,000 of the 100,000 young Iraqis are actually in the Iraqi government now. But we authorized the use of these commander funds, these emergency funds, for this purpose. But it’s also essential that there be a plan. We don’t have a plan yet. One of the generals, NATO generals, is working on a plan. We should have had this in place some time ago in my judgment. It can’t just be throwing money at the problem, but we have to have that money ready to go if and when, and hopefully it’s soon, the plan to do this is put in place.
CLARK: And who would be handing out the money? Would it be US forces or the Afghan government?
LEVIN: That’s part of the decision that could be made in the plan. We haven’t written the plan. What we’ve authorized the funds is to help fund a plan which would be written by NATO.
CLARK: Well, some US commanders refer to the $10 Taliban, meaning that fighters are getting about $10 a day to take on the US troops. Is that what Washington might be paying?
LEVIN: It would be a modest amount. We don’t set the amount. We know it will be very little, because we know that the Taliban doesn’t pay much, but they pay. It’s better than nothing for these young, desperate men. We’re only talking here about the low level folks. We’re not talking about Taliban commanders or those who are religious fanatics. You’re not going to be able to get them to switch sides.
CLARK: It seemed as if many of these guys who are fighting US forces over there think that they’re actually winning, so why would they take $10 or $20 to stop fighting US forces if they think they’re really going to win the whole war there?
LEVIN: Well, the Taliban commanders aren’t going to stop. The question is, whether or not the large number of local fighters would stop. Those people who are making bombs, attacking our vehicles, because we’re there and because they’re paid to do that, the amount of pay they’re getting is very small, and we can quite easily compete with that. Also, there’s some real risk that they’re taking. A lot of these young fighters are getting killed. They’re also on the outs, in many cases, with their own communities. You know, the Taliban is hated in Afghanistan.
CLARK: Well, we had a survey that came out this week by the Asia Foundation that polled a number of Afghans. It was more than 6,000 over the course of the summer. And they found actually a large amount of sympathy for those who are fighting US forces there.
LEVIN: Well, I haven’t seen that poll, but I have seen other polls, and I don’t remember who took them, that showed the support for the Taliban was in literally single digits.
CLARK: So I’m just wondering what is being proposed here, offering money to people fighting US forces in Afghanistan to stop fighting. Isn’t this just in a sense a few degrees away from talking to al Qaida? I mean, where does al Qaida fit into this?
LEVIN: Well, al Qaida’s very different from the Taliban, and there may be a temporary relationship of convenience, but al Qaida has very, very little support. Al Qaida, for the most part, are foreign fighters and the Taliban leaders work with al Qaida in Pakistan and whenever they can in Afghanistan, but it’s not because there’s any philosophical connection between them. It’s just a matter of people who are insurgents working together against a common enemy, which is us.
CLARK: Well, this is a program based on what worked in Iraq, but we’ve been hearing over and over again from General Petraeus and others that what worked in Iraq won’t necessarily work in Afghanistan. The dynamics are very different. Are you worried that this might not work?
LEVIN: There’s always this risk. You can’t guarantee anything’s going to work in Afghanistan.
CLARK: Senator Carl Levin, a Democrat, chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. Thanks for your time, Senator.
LEVIN: Sure. Good being with you, Katy.
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