The Issue of Hearts and Minds

By Douglas Farah

One of the striking things about several of today's military engagements with Islamist radicals is the inability to improve people's lives, even after several years on the ground.

The most obvious example is Afghanistan, where Gen. David McKiernan warns that better governance and economic progress are vital.

"It is true that in many places of this country we don't have an acceptable level of security. We don't have good governance. We don't have socio-economic progress. We don't have people that are able to grow their produce and get it to market. We don't have freedom of movement," he told a news conference in Kabul.

One of the great lessons of the Taliban's first takeover was not that their theology and ideology were loved and supported by all or even most Afghanis. It was that the Taliban promised-and delivered-stability and security.

The same is true in Somalia, where chaos now reigns, despite the presence of foreign troops and AU peacekeepers. The biggest failing of the effort is the failure to deliver on the promises to make Mogadishu and other areas safe and secure. The Islamists did when they controlled Mogadishu, the international forces have not.

My point is that much is made over the idea of winning people's hearts and minds, and that is often interpreted as getting people to love us, or at least really, really like us, or whatever anti-Islamist group is fighting.

But, in my years of covering insurgencies and counter-insurgencies, that is a fanciful notion. What people do want, especially in situations where chaos and fear have been the norm for years, is to live a somewhat normal and secure life. The relative success in Iraq, I would argue, is due as much to that as any other factor. That is the danger of the Iraqi government's inability to press forward on the political side, for real improvement, while the military creates a climate of normalcy. My full blog is here.

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