Pubdate: Sat, 24 Mar 2007 Source: Daily Observer, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2007, Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2615 Author: Scott Taylor NATO SHOULD TAKE SENLIS REPORT SERIOUSLY Editor's note: Osprey Media LP, the parent company of The Daily Observer, has brought together some of the foremost thinkers in their fields to write on the issues facing our cities and country. The columns are bold, articulate, provocative and thoughtful. This week's writer is former Canadian soldier Scott Taylor, the editor of Esprit de Corps military magazine and a veteran war correspondent. He is the author of "Spinning on the Axis of Evil: America's War against Iran," and "Among the Others: Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq." In September 2005, he was held hostage for five days in northern Iraq by Ansar al-Islam Mujahadin. Comments can be sent to: Last week, even before the Senlis Council released its latest survey on the situation in southern Afghanistan, the Canadian defence establishment was already circling the wagons. A flurry of e-mails was dispatched to the mailing list of the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA), alerting its members to the fact that previous Senlis Council findings "have been less than positive about this mission." Presumably, in the eyes of the CDA, the publishing of negative assessments automatically damages the credibility of the independent Senlis Council. That's right old chaps, the army says we're winning the war, so thump those tubs and drown out any and all naysayers! Unfortunately for those who wish it were otherwise, the Senlis Council is the real deal. I had the opportunity to travel with its members in Kandahar in January and to observe their collection of data first-hand. As one of the few remaining non-governmental agencies still operating outside the wire in the Taliban heartland, Senlis members compile their research at great personal risk. All staff members travel armed and dress as local Pashtuns. For example, the founder of the organization, Saskatchewan-born Norine MacDonald, disguises her gender by dressing as an Afghan boy. Additional security is provided by a couple of dozen Afghan guards and a pair of South African security consultants. Nevertheless, the Senlis Council realize their ability to operate unhindered in the Kandahar area comes as a result of the trust they've established with the local warlords and tribal leaders. While their primary purpose is not to provide humanitarian aid, Senlis will use the distribution of food and medicine to refugee camps in order to conduct their fact-finding surveys. Last fall, as a result of having personally canvassed a large number of Afghan farmers, Senlis tabled a recommendation for the international community to purchase the illegal poppy crops rather than using military resources to enforce their eradication. According to Senlis, subsequent conversion of these opiates into legal pharmaceutical products would eliminate the problem of street drugs and it would not deprive the poppy farmers of their basic livelihood. Despite the common-sense logic of this proposal, when it was tabled the Colonel Blimps immediately took to the airwaves to denounce the Senlis Council. To purchase poppies from druglords would be insane, they harrumphed. As a chorus they denounced such measures by saying they would simply empower the enemy and undermine the war effort. What they didn't realize was that the Senlis solution to the illegal drug production was a carbon-copy of what NATO commanders had concluded two years ago. Unfortunately, the major pharmaceutical companies felt that such a sudden glut of cheap opiates would flood the world market and adversely affect their corporate profits. But I digress. In its most recent report, Senlis concludes that persistent poverty and a growing disillusionment with NATO troops is pushing Afghans into supporting the Taliban. After polling some 17,000 Afghan males in the southern provinces it was estimated that 27 per cent of respondents openly support the insurgency, and just 48 per cent believe that NATO can win the war. The rare feedback Senlis has provided should not be glibly dismissed. In fact, if the CDA tub-thumpers would pause their clamouring for a minute to consider the results, they would have to admit the Senlis findings mirror the situation on the ground. The Taliban have certainly been resurgent in southern Afghanistan over the past 12 months as evidenced by the dramatic increase in suicide bombings. As the fighting drags on between NATO forces and the insurgents, it is only logical that the local inhabitants would grow resentful of the coalition's apparent inability to provide a secure environment. The Taliban may not seem like a very attractive option, but if they are offering to feed the families of their new recruits, they become a desperate means of survival. Rather than dismiss Senlis reports before they're even published, NATO should consider the intelligence value they provide and use it to better understand the local sentiment. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman