Afghan Province's Problems Underline Challenge for U.S.

Resilient Insurgency, Corruption Keep Uruzgan a 'Last Frontier'

TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan -- When the United States sent tons of wheat seed here this winter to be given to farmers as an alternative to growing poppies, local officials sold the seeds and pocketed the money. When the U.S. ambassador came for a visit Jan. 5, a suicide bomber detonated himself several hundred yards away, killing 10 people.

And every time U.S. troops have managed to seize a portion of Uruzgan province, this remote, ruggedly beautiful region of south-central Afghanistan, enemy fighters have simply slipped away and found new hiding places among its endless craggy hills and hollows.

As one senior U.S. military official describes it, Uruzgan is "the last frontier" -- a place that exemplifies why the international mission to secure Afghanistan still has a long way to go, why well-intentioned foreign assistance often ends up in the wrong hands, and why -- more than four years since the defeat of Islamic Taliban rule -- the insurgency has proved so difficult to defeat.

In the Afghan capital, Kabul, where shopping malls and cell phone stores are proliferating, the modern bustle creates a sense of progress and security. But here, about 230 miles southwest, the hardtop highway shifts to deeply rutted tracks, nightfall brings pitch darkness, and residents face a stark, daily choice between helping U.S. and Afghan authorities or aiding the Islamic fighters, drug runners and criminals who call Uruzgan home.

"If you made a list of provinces from one to 34, where is Uruzgan in terms of progress in the security environment? It would certainly be toward the bottom," said Army Lt. Gen Karl W. Eikenberry, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, following a recent visit here. "But I don't see a province out there that we can't transform. It's just going to take time."

In many ways, Uruzgan is stuck in a vicious circle of danger and neglect. While many other provinces forge ahead with reconstruction, work cannot begin in earnest here until the security situation improves, because most aid organizations and contractors are too fearful to set up shop. But the security situation, officials said, is not likely to improve until Uruzgan gets more schools, hospitals, roads and jobs. Right now, all are in short supply.

Uruzgan was once home to Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader, and his organization continues to enjoy some support here, especially among fellow ethnic Pashtuns. Officials say they believe groups of Taliban fighters are permanently based in the province and find opportunities to recruit young members at local religious schools.

Over the past four years, the insurgents have repeatedly resisted U.S. military attempts to drive them out, instead moving among havens within the province. Last year, despite aggressive tactics by U.S. forces, military leaders say they lost ground in many areas. The insurgents, meanwhile, continued massing in Uruzgan and stepped up their attacks, contributing to the nearly 100 U.S. military deaths nationwide.

Recent interviews with residents and officials suggested that most people here are sympathetic to the United States and to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. They are not sure, however, if Karzai and his Western backers can be counted on to keep them safe over the long term.

A few months from now, U.S. soldiers are scheduled to relinquish control over southern Afghanistan and be replaced by NATO forces. In Uruzgan, soldiers from the Netherlands are supposed to take over. But the Dutch have wavered over whether they will make the commitment, raising concerns that the Taliban and its allies may take advantage of the uncertainty.

"The majority of the population of Uruzgan wants to live in peace. They don't want war," said Talatbek Masadykov, who heads the U.N. mission for southern Afghanistan. "But there is talk in the air that the Americans are leaving." Local residents, he said, ask: Who will be there to protect us?

Sgt. Mehrab Gul, an Afghan National Army soldier who patrols Uruzgan with the U.S. military, was more blunt: "If U.S. forces leave today, there will be a huge war tomorrow," he predicted.