Great topic. Your points all sound logical and sound.Originally Posted by jcustis
I'll add some points below, with an over-arching disclaimer that they were gained over a 6 month period that in the scheme of things is all too brief to properly develop and test such concepts, and that even if they were valid in my area in 2009 time and geography can change everything.
- It's important to know who is at your meetings. It is also a nice-to-have to get photos of everyone there and what they do/ their connections to the community. I always wanted to have one of my soldiers sit in the meeting with me, and we would intro ourselves and ask that everyone did likewise. The Heads of Shura would appear a little annoyed at this but it did help us in the long run. Other times, when I was friendly enough with a school teacher or similar figure in the community who would be in the background, we would approach later (often outside the meeting house) and politely enquire about who was where and what they thought of us. One point with photos - we were initially encouraged to 'covertly' snap away during meetings, which is just comical as you cannot hide someone using a camera. Either asking permission to openly take images (sometimes denied, especially by the Mullahs or Malauwis) or requesting a formal everyone-stand-together-afterwards shot was preferable.
- RFIs we were given were very narrow in their application. I ended up with a meeting format whereby I would state why we were there and what we wanted to achieve in the meeting. I would then ask the local leadership how we could achieve our goals in the area, before asking them what they wanted/ needed. Asking for local perspectives and for them to frame their own problems and solutions was helpful to understand their perspectives and frame-of-mind while minimising the bias we imposed upon their problems.
- I always debriefed with my intepreter after a meeting. Asking them how they thought the meeting went and anything they thought of interest raised a few gems, especially with a competent 'terp who had been in the area for a while.
- KLE's need not be static. I got the best information when I walked around with a Head of Shura after a meeting, when the hangers-on had been left behind or were distracted in their own conversations as we moved through the area. One trick I would use would be to ask the HoS to show me a well or foot-bridge in the area. By walking through the streets a short distance the HoS would often be able to have a hurried conversation with my interpreter, passing on the kind of information that makes the S2 cell get all gooey over your reports.
- Only on a few very rare occassions did I involve the ANP/NDS (there were no ANA in my AO) in KLEs. The reason for this was laziness, as the local population preferred to speak to us without them in attendance. If I had me way again I would involve them in every KLE.
- The 'culturally sensitive' rules we were taught were all situationally dependent. We were told that it was heresy to attend a meeting with boots on, but often we would go to take them off and the HoS would tell us not to worry. Same with paying for food during long shuras - I would offer to pay the HoS afterwards for the chai and naan bread served, and sometimes the offer would be taken up - even though this was supposed to be incredibly insulting to the Afghani culture. My best cultural advisor was my interpreter and I relied on him heavily in all the situations I was unsure of and wanted confirmation in.
Bookmarks