The Foreign Service Journal, January 2012

8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 of whom served with the U.S. Provin- cial Reconstruction Team in Kapisa, fail to acknowledge that the ODA worked hand in hand with the Kapisa PRT to conduct what they term “microdiplo- macy.” Accordingly, I write to set the record straight. The ODA not only recognized the local population’s willingness and desire to handle their own security against the Taliban, but took the lead in organizing a village-based program to safeguard critical lines of communication in the province, primarily the north-south highway. Working with the Tagab Dis- trict Afghan National Police and PRT Kapisa, we helped establish a Road Se- curity Teamprogram. The ANP issued clear guidance to team members on what they could and could not do, and provided an immediate security re- sponse, while the Kapisa PRT paid the program’s participants. The first Road Security Team, con- sisting of 20 members operating in the northern Tagab Valley, quickly reduced the threat along major roadways for the local population, Afghan National Po- lice and coalition forces. This success instilled a sense of security, allowing the population to take back their neighbor- hoods from the Taliban, and has been widely touted by the Afghan Interior Ministry as a model for use elsewhere. This was by no means solely an ODA effort, for we worked side by side with the PRT and a French unit, Task Force Lafayatte, to build strong coali- tion support for this initiative. But all of us, including Operational Detachment Alpha, pitched in to make it happen. The article also fails to make clear that it was the ODA that originated the idea of creating the first farmers’ coop- erative in the Tagab Valley, which bro- keredmultiple deals with domestic and foreign firms. This initiative, which State and USAID greatly supported and helped facilitate, was a model for economic and agricultural develop- ment elsewhere in the region. It came about because the ODA met a local farmer who sought agricul- tural training to better cultivate his crops using modern techniques. We immediately met with personnel from PRT Kapisa, the province’s agricultural development team, USAID and State to identify suitable projects and pursue them. We then organized and provided se- curity for a shura (assembly) of more than 200 people at the Tagab District Center in June 2009. And following the shura, it was the ODA that stayed behind to ensure that the district sub- governor worked with the farmers to found the co-op and appoint local lead- ers. Let me emphasize that my intent in writing is not to take anything away from the valuable workMr. Deree, Mr. Arnold and their colleagues performed. But I believe it is important that your readers have the full story of the team- work involving the Kapisa PRT, State and USAID, and Operational Detach- ment Alpha, as well as local partici- pants. Without such cooperation, no single organization could successfully aid the local populace. But because of it, our team made great strides in conducting microdiplomacy in Kapisa province. Captain Erhan Bedestani U.S. Army JCS Internship Program Georgetown University Washington, D.C. L E T T E R S