Quote Originally Posted by slapout9 View Post
In the video I saw we promised the local tribal leader if he quit growing poppies he would receive some financial/economic support. Four years later he has received nothing and his village is starving. That is a good way to drive the village over to the opposition side thus creating as many if not more guerrillas than any Air Strike. If we promise something to somebody we should deliver on it.That is what I would expect the US to do.
I hear what you're saying -- but I think there are a few problems with your rationale ,

Consider:

'Promised' that? First, realize that to most in the ME and Afghanistan, if you are from a different tribe and you say something will occur, you are deemed to have given an oath -- made a promise -- that something will occur. Totally different standard of morality ( ). Conversely, if you're an American and you know the 'policy' is to provide aid to reduce the Poppy production, you're highly likely to say, in an offhand way, "Quit growing Poppies and we'll provide assistance" (with no knowledge of what that might entail and with knowledge it might not happen on your tour). You made a comment, he heard a promise. Two different cultures not meshing.

Second, who's the 'we?' Anyone from the American Ambassador to PFC Phugabosky could've said that and even said it in all innocence expecting it to occur. Regardless, all the Afghan knows is that 'the Americans said...' A person who possibly should not have committed the US to a course of action said something or one who could have did and the system did not follow through. All sorts of things could've occurred and we don't know what went down. Given 50K or so Americans wandering around in a nation almost as big as Texas, a State Department totally screwed up by Congressional meddling and not prepared for the job they got body slammed into, it's amazing we've done as well as we have.

No one knew all those cultural nuances early on; first responders did what they though was right and they did it in the absence of training in what and how to do things. We got smart real quick and told the troops "Never tell them you'll do something." A lot of 'promises' that were not really promises snuck in before we got that word out -- and even today, you and I know there's always the 10%, no doubt in my mind SSG Heebly or CPT Cholmondley are inadvertently making the occasional 'promise.'

I don't think you can totally fix that...

Lastly, define the 'US.' Yeah, I expect them to do that also -- deliver on a promise; keep their word. However, having been in that part of the world, I know there are several difficulties with that. A casual comment is not a promise -- and they know that but one will always be used as a 'promise' to get what can be gotten out of it. Haggling is a national sport...

It is not possible to make all Americans behave in the national interest -- look at your crooks and the politicians (but I repeat myself... ). The US government is a big, huge, diffuse bureaucracy. The left hand often doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Even within the Army -- heck, within a Battalion -- sometime folks don't know what other folks are doing and it takes a lot of effort to get things pulling together. A LOT of effort...

We have a lot of well intentioned laws to guard tax dollars that aren't helpful to getting projects started or completed, the reviews and checks are significant and a lot of intended things fall afoul of one law or another -- or simply get killed by higher Hq -- due to a law or rule or just the perception that "The Boss doesn't like that stuff..." can pave the road to hell with good intentions that don't happen.

We didn't promise anything; some guy said.

Nor can we do it -- the politicians won't let us...

In short, I totally agree with you philosophically but in reality on the ground, it ain't anywhere near that simple.