Today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable was with Col. John Agoglia, Director Counterinsurgency Training Center. A large number of bloggers participated and a number of issues were discussed.

Col. Agoglia corrected the media perception that Afghanistan had never had a functioning central government. The events of thirty years. 1970-2001, gutted the traditional governing methods of the nation. The government had functions down to the district level. The governance at the village and clan / tribal level would deal with the district when local resources did not suffice.

The Soviet invasion and then the extended civil war and Taliban rule broke those connections. Current COIN doctrine is to rebuild these connections and rebuild the confidence of the people in the government. Anti-corruption efforts are key.

Agoglia was one of the planners of the original invasion in 2001. He described the original U.S. position as one where we would chase al Qaeda and the Taliban and NATO / ISAF would enable the new Afghan government. A gap developed between the government and the people, resulting in the last three years of Taliban growth. The United States has now directed efforts to governance operations and change is coming, slowly. The media seem to want immediate results and that is just not the way change will happen.

Currently, the Col.’s group trains incoming NATO and U.S. troops, and a few Afghans. The direction is to enable the troop on the ground that they have to take responsibility for rebuilding the relationship between the Afghan people and the government. COIN is not an event but a mindset.

There has been a mindset change over the last year. Resources have been made available and a common strategy developed. The challenge is working through a tribal society to enable the resources and personnel to be available in synch with the local leadership, the government and the military on the ground.