Peace Corps Service Training (PST) is a three-month odyssey through stress, limitations, new lessons and private triumphs. I am reminded of my third-form religion class at Choate. Mark Mullin was a Rhodes Scholar and recently ordained minister in September 1972. He turned at least one complaisant teen from the Mid-West (i.e., me) onto mind-expanding, mood-altering substances – on the printed page of course.
In Rev. Mullin’s class, we read an autobiographical account of one minister’s journey across the threshold of radical change. Flanked by his people and steadied by his faith, he triumphed, quietly. Times of duress – times to be vanquished or simply gotten-through (like PST in 2010 or Montgomery Alabama in 1955) – bring out the best and worst in people.
Felled by a bullet some thirteen years later, this prophet came to be venerated more in death than he had been feared, contemned and respected in life. Fifteen years after that religion course, I read a third of that unforgettable book while killing time in a local library.
By then, however, traits of this martyr’s less flattering side – of infidelity and plagiarism – had come to enthrall people across the U.S. Reflecting on that time well wasted in the public library, I came to believe that these faults – considerable as they were – no longer permitted this personal hero to be a martyr. They made him a saint.
¿WHY?
Because, despite these human faults, one man's actions had risen to the godly. He came out in a heavily technocratic and, in retrospect, amoral age to declare that neither brain nor brawn should rule the world. It was the content of a (wo)man’s character that should define the rank of that person relative to his or her equals.
Of course, I am speaking of Martin Luther King, Jr and his book, ‘Stride Toward Freedom’. Looking back, it is easy to see that Dr King was right in saying that his actions and those of other peace-minded Americans would free everyone – that is, his stride toward freedom taken for us all was our stride as well. But getting there took risk and sacrifice.
For half a century, the Peace Corps has been doing the same. I do not pretend to be in a position to label any of my fellow trainees, now Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), as being at the level of M.L.K.
Nevertheless, yesterday’s 'swearing-in' ceremony proved to be more fulfilling than the previous four, combined. Beyond the slap-dash nature of the previous ‘protestas’, when my government needed warm bodies in Iraq or Afghanistan in a hurry, this ceremony acted out a living symbolism.
That symbolism reminds me that I serve with some really fine people. This letter is not written to adulate the younger members but to salute them for their courage in taking a risk so early in their lives. I admire attributes in others that I strive for myself; that can-do enthusiasm which defies all odds, any reason and many résumés has been an acquired taste for me but remains a required trait for them.
The elders are a source of wisdom and maturity. Life's trials and triumphs provide the basic ballast needed to steady a ship navigating through stormy waters. Some of these people mean a great deal to me; they really helped me make my way through a few turbulent weeks of conflicts and skating by with the proverbial "48½" demerits.
During this quiet day-after, life feels like a ball rolling off a table following twelve weeks of exhausting assignments, Spanish ‘stuRdying’ and little sleep. Consequently, I challenge those thirty younger members to liberate their “Mexi-kin” with computers, shovels, solar stoves and old-fashioned American altruism. To the oldsters like me, I say: ¡let’s stay in contact to keep these youngsters in line!
Below are some lessons I got from younger generations in PCT.
1. Mere presence is powerful.
2. Being young at heart doesn’t work too well on the soccer field.
3. Laughing really is the Lord’s best medicine.
4. Experience is no substitute for the content of one's character.
5. Even Republicans can have fun with Democrats.
Now follow some lessons gained from those PCVs over forty.
1. Cleaning graves on Día de Muertos prolongs your life.
2. Cultural adjustment is more about having fun…their way.
3. It is better to have been married and divorced than never to have married at all.
4. A ‘cerveza’ a day keeps the doctor away; that one I have to take on faith.
5. Even Democrats can have fun with Republicans.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Letter #21 to friends and family: Thoughts on a Mexican Crucifix.
NOTE: written August 29th (before the excellent lecture on the R.C. influence in México on October 29th).
One secondary benefit of knowing absolutely no Spanish is the quiet time I get during the Catholic mass I have attended here in Querétaro for these first two Sundays in the Peace Corps. Not quite like Sarah Miles – Graham Greene’s “bitch and a fake” heroine in his sublime novel The End of the Affair – something shifted in me when I spent more than an hour gazing absently at just another crucifix in just another Roman church. Most crucifixes tend to be the same, though this one seemed different.
No mystical paradox here, as poor Sarah encountered while she succumbed to disease. It turns out that the crucifixes here in México are different than the thousands I have seen elsewhere. Out-to-lunch though I am, I have to doubt that I could plod along for half a century and miss this detail along the way. Of course, it took thirty years for me to “get” the double-entendre behind (Bond character) Pussy Galore’s name; anything is possible.
If the devil hides in the details, so does Christ (at least south of the border). For the crucifix in this church in Querétaro has mutilated knees represented on the figure of the dying Christ; many others are even more graphic, with ribs showing and / or lacerated body broken forever...or so it seems. This small improvement on verisimilitude ought not to be a big detail. Yet it was for me. ¿Why?
For one, these mutilated knees were not the skin-scrapes we earned as kids graduating from tricycles to bicycles. These knees were gashed to the bone; nothing short of gory, really. As I age, I also become increasingly convinced that I have made no breakthroughs not already encountered by billions of others in millions of moments.
While the setting and circumstance of an ‘aha’ moment varies infinitely among so many different people, its essence rarely does. Perhaps that idea demotes a ‘breakthrough’ to a certain inward readiness to grasp a detail; not quite a random moment but pretty close. ¿And so what was my ‘aha’ moment?
Nothing less the realization of how unutterably low Christ was brought at the time of his execution by the Roman Empire for subversion. Yes, the knees would have been mutilated stumbling up that rocky path of Golgotha. The message here need not be religious. If one puts aside the argumentation of Christ’s existence and resurrection simply to look at the story, ¿what does it say? ¿At least to me?
It basically says that no matter how destroyed one’s life is or has become, redemption is possible. Jesus then stands out as the ultimate “comeback kid”; ¡yes, thirty-three years old is a kid these days! And this sentiment is not intended to slight Xianity; far from it. One can lose a belief he never had but still revere the larger Truth for which it stands.
What that ‘knee-capped’ figurine taught me was that I do not have to believe in the Christian doctrine to realize that, even when all human hope has dissipated, there is still Hope. That universal paradox of Hope after all hope, then, becomes my personal responsibility upon its discovery – if not for myself, then for the aid of others.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Letter-20: Intellectual Poetry and Pretensions.
Letter #20: Intellectual Poetry and Pretensions.
The primary purpose of this letter is to refer family and friends to a blog being compiled by a friend of mine here in México with the Peace Corps followed by uninvited political bloviation by yours truly.
Mr Arpan Dasgupta exemplifies the type of Peace Corps volunteer praised in my last letter. In our training cycle, because his advanced Spanish speaking ability afforded him free time, Arpan has counselled young drug addicts here in Queretaro. Simply said, Arpan places principles firmly ahead of personalities.
Arpan has been writing out a blog – ‘The Next Cup of Chai’ – that remains oh-so-elegant in its simplicity. This blog celebrates the nitty-gritty of everyday life in México. It is as if Arpan has poetry in his fingertips as opposed to my more abstract (distracted) thoughts. The blog address is http://thenextcupofchai.blogspot.com/.
Now to the more selfish side of this essay. Discussing next week’s mid-term U.S. elections strays “out of my lane” for three reasons.
1. Politics has nothing to do with my work here or the reason for my letters home.
2. As a firm Republican who prides his vote for Senator John McCain in 2008 and remains a faithful fan of President George W. Bush, I have no business counselling Democrats.
3. Ignorance of the political landscape apparently has failed to deter me from bloviating.
Fortunately, I am limiting this essay to the customary length and can only do limited damage to my limited credibility. So here goes…Bluntly stated, my Democratic friends: think long and hard before you give up on President Obama and your political party.
Your party – particularly our President – needs more time in which to succeed or fail. As I described a few letters back, coming from reliable primary sources, President Obama proved his capacity for statesmanship with the delicate dismissal of General McCrystal in Afghanistan.
To limit my wording, I am not going to discuss all that I think is wrong with key Administration policies in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, on the stimulus package, on financial reform or within the health-care insurance law. There are many things I could say, and would, over coffee (perhaps chai).
What strikes me as outstanding, however, is the attempt to address so many problems so long in the making. Health-care is a prime example. Every President who has tried to do something to address this seventy year old political canker–-with the exception of Medicare and Medicaid under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson–-has, well, failed.
Why? Because there are tenacious interests involved in preventing meaningful change.
The venality of current politics dominated by moneyed special interests is neither new nor surprising. President James Madison detailed this fact of strife quite specifically in the Federalist Papers. President Madison was no prophet; however, ‘Jemmy’ was a keen observer of human nature.
So what did President Obama do? Nothing…at first. That apparent inaction proved to make the difference between attaining something and coming away bruised, humiliated and willing to let go of guiding principles to engineer a political comeback.
President Obama recognized, in a manner many Presidents have not, that the President relies mainly on the delegations of power granted him by Congress. Congress funds his initiatives, implements his treaties, operationalizes his policies.
Instead of alienating Congress as President Carter unfortunately did or trying to ignore Congress as President Clinton had attempted to do, President Obama apparently let Congress jawbone the health-care issue to its standard impasse. Only then did he step in with his Administration’s best (sic) thinking and submit a proposal.
This proposal was not intended to supplant debate but to nudge it toward resolution. President Obama used the moral suasion common to modern Presidents to prod his party and listeners on the other side toward an intermediate solution.
Did this ‘landmark’ health-care law resolve the long-running insurance crisis? Of course not. By focussing on progress rather than perfection as a yard-stick of political and electoral accountability, this bill represents an epochal breakthrough.
A policy door, locked tight for so long, has been wedged open, if only slightly. That imperfect bill can be the butt of current criticism or the buttress of a future solution.
But time takes time and my Democratic friends: your party deserves your continued support no matter how disappointing you find President Obama’s policies to date. After all, thanks to the President’s statesmanship and character, what seemed impossible ever to happen a year ago (i.e., comprehensive health reform) now seems improbable not to happen…eventually.
The primary purpose of this letter is to refer family and friends to a blog being compiled by a friend of mine here in México with the Peace Corps followed by uninvited political bloviation by yours truly.
Mr Arpan Dasgupta exemplifies the type of Peace Corps volunteer praised in my last letter. In our training cycle, because his advanced Spanish speaking ability afforded him free time, Arpan has counselled young drug addicts here in Queretaro. Simply said, Arpan places principles firmly ahead of personalities.
Arpan has been writing out a blog – ‘The Next Cup of Chai’ – that remains oh-so-elegant in its simplicity. This blog celebrates the nitty-gritty of everyday life in México. It is as if Arpan has poetry in his fingertips as opposed to my more abstract (distracted) thoughts. The blog address is http://thenextcupofchai.blogspot.com/.
Now to the more selfish side of this essay. Discussing next week’s mid-term U.S. elections strays “out of my lane” for three reasons.
1. Politics has nothing to do with my work here or the reason for my letters home.
2. As a firm Republican who prides his vote for Senator John McCain in 2008 and remains a faithful fan of President George W. Bush, I have no business counselling Democrats.
3. Ignorance of the political landscape apparently has failed to deter me from bloviating.
Fortunately, I am limiting this essay to the customary length and can only do limited damage to my limited credibility. So here goes…Bluntly stated, my Democratic friends: think long and hard before you give up on President Obama and your political party.
Your party – particularly our President – needs more time in which to succeed or fail. As I described a few letters back, coming from reliable primary sources, President Obama proved his capacity for statesmanship with the delicate dismissal of General McCrystal in Afghanistan.
To limit my wording, I am not going to discuss all that I think is wrong with key Administration policies in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, on the stimulus package, on financial reform or within the health-care insurance law. There are many things I could say, and would, over coffee (perhaps chai).
What strikes me as outstanding, however, is the attempt to address so many problems so long in the making. Health-care is a prime example. Every President who has tried to do something to address this seventy year old political canker–-with the exception of Medicare and Medicaid under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson–-has, well, failed.
Why? Because there are tenacious interests involved in preventing meaningful change.
The venality of current politics dominated by moneyed special interests is neither new nor surprising. President James Madison detailed this fact of strife quite specifically in the Federalist Papers. President Madison was no prophet; however, ‘Jemmy’ was a keen observer of human nature.
So what did President Obama do? Nothing…at first. That apparent inaction proved to make the difference between attaining something and coming away bruised, humiliated and willing to let go of guiding principles to engineer a political comeback.
President Obama recognized, in a manner many Presidents have not, that the President relies mainly on the delegations of power granted him by Congress. Congress funds his initiatives, implements his treaties, operationalizes his policies.
Instead of alienating Congress as President Carter unfortunately did or trying to ignore Congress as President Clinton had attempted to do, President Obama apparently let Congress jawbone the health-care issue to its standard impasse. Only then did he step in with his Administration’s best (sic) thinking and submit a proposal.
This proposal was not intended to supplant debate but to nudge it toward resolution. President Obama used the moral suasion common to modern Presidents to prod his party and listeners on the other side toward an intermediate solution.
Did this ‘landmark’ health-care law resolve the long-running insurance crisis? Of course not. By focussing on progress rather than perfection as a yard-stick of political and electoral accountability, this bill represents an epochal breakthrough.
A policy door, locked tight for so long, has been wedged open, if only slightly. That imperfect bill can be the butt of current criticism or the buttress of a future solution.
But time takes time and my Democratic friends: your party deserves your continued support no matter how disappointing you find President Obama’s policies to date. After all, thanks to the President’s statesmanship and character, what seemed impossible ever to happen a year ago (i.e., comprehensive health reform) now seems improbable not to happen…eventually.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Letter--19: Unpalatable Patriotism
Letter-19 (from Querétaro): Being Palatably Correct for the Good of the Country.
The Peace Corps has three basic missions, the latter two of which make its mission unique and long-lasting, especially with our younger compatriots. First is to convey technical knowledge, usually in things like agriculture, small business development, English or health. The second and third missions, however, make the difference.
These are to generate goodwill in host nations toward the United States and to bring unique cultures back home. From what I have seen in Mexico – though our Southern neighbor is an outlier among Peace Corps missions – the younger volunteers do a magnificent job.
Why?
They connect with younger professionals and will empower them professionally. These young host country counterparts represent the generational inflection points of their societies. It is their willingness to emulate the best Americans have to offer and pride their professionalism above economic opportunism that may turn the tide for these countries.
After all, I know people my age are simply too tired and too used to particular world views to change easily. So, it is a joy to see these young Yanks, whose professionalism sharpens their sincerity, do what I wish I had many years ago. Nevertheless, this old hoot has reasons to chuckle along the way.
For example, a dinner party I attended last evening. A new friend in Querétaro was celebrating her twenty-fifth anniversary and invited me to a very informal dinner. The invitation delighted me and so I picked up my wind-breaker and make-shift Spanish and went to the dinner. The people in attendance were all Mexicans and generally my age and I felt right at home bringing goodwill to Mexico like a Peace Corps Trooper.
Then came the test. The dish at the other end of the dining table with steaming hot corn tortillas looked like a chicken goulash to me. Great, I thought: no ‘puerco’; Mexico is the pork eating capital of the world, surpassing even Germany. The assumed goulash came my way just the way I wanted it and that meant lots of it. Only when it was in front of me did I realize that this was not chicken that everyone was eating but cooked chicharrón.
Chicharrón – yes, do roll those r’s once you have finished rolling your eyes – is basically the fatty part of pig-skin dried and spiced like a cheese doodle. As a munchies food, it is just awful. Though enamored of México in many ways, when I see chicharrón, I head for the hills like Pancho Villa from Woodrow Wilson’s army. I shuddered at the unspeakable horror sitting in front of me. I neither noticed nor cared that others loved their fare. As far as I was concerned this stuff made high-school cream-chipped beef on toast (a / k / a SH*t on a shingle) look like food fit for a king.
I looked quickly for a dog to which I could inflict this madness. None around, dammit. I was trapped by Peace Corp’s second mission. So with all of the earnestness at my command, I ate the slop with no outward hesitance, relying on years on careful training for stoicism to see me through. For all of the private melodrama, the food was not half-bad. I even had a second helping!
What is that last line of the national anthem again? Something about the home of the brave? The only drawback I found was that the chicharrón had the texture of calamari I used to eat in Manhattan trying very hard to impress some dinner date that I was sophisticated. I faked it then and I faked it last night. The critical difference? In Manhattan, I was ‘enjoying’ calamari for some rank courting opportunism. Last night, I ‘enjoyed’ chicharrón for the good of the country.
I apologize for the longer than usual letter. I wanted to answer Choate teacher, Tony Hodgin’s, e-mailed response to my admittedly over-the-top statement that forty Peace Corps volunteers would do more than four hundred USAID field reps in Afghanistan. Actually, there are seventy volunteers in Mexico and my statement was an exaggeration. The reasoning behind it remains the same. Tony understands development issues better than most people; he deserves an answer (long over-due).
The seventy Peace Corps volunteers in Mexico are in a country that wants us to be there working on small projects that people can replicate easily. These matters are all about legacy. What will today’s people think of our efforts in twenty years. I am willing to bet USAID’s bottom dollar (never my own, of course) that Mexicans will not remember the technical skills conveyance or some $5,000 project for bee-hives. What they will remember are that those damn Yankees were damned good Yankees; that they were worth emulating by their basic decency and integrity.
In Afghanistan, however, USAID is operating in a very unfriendly and difficult environment. Much of its effort is being dissipated, with little of the way in positive legacy to leave behind. If the U.S. government pulls development work back to secure and truly welcoming parts of Afghanistan, the aid dollar will go much further. That said, there are other, debilitating issues with USAID around funding out-sourced ‘development’ contracts to a highly in-bred development community.
The Peace Corps has three basic missions, the latter two of which make its mission unique and long-lasting, especially with our younger compatriots. First is to convey technical knowledge, usually in things like agriculture, small business development, English or health. The second and third missions, however, make the difference.
These are to generate goodwill in host nations toward the United States and to bring unique cultures back home. From what I have seen in Mexico – though our Southern neighbor is an outlier among Peace Corps missions – the younger volunteers do a magnificent job.
Why?
They connect with younger professionals and will empower them professionally. These young host country counterparts represent the generational inflection points of their societies. It is their willingness to emulate the best Americans have to offer and pride their professionalism above economic opportunism that may turn the tide for these countries.
After all, I know people my age are simply too tired and too used to particular world views to change easily. So, it is a joy to see these young Yanks, whose professionalism sharpens their sincerity, do what I wish I had many years ago. Nevertheless, this old hoot has reasons to chuckle along the way.
For example, a dinner party I attended last evening. A new friend in Querétaro was celebrating her twenty-fifth anniversary and invited me to a very informal dinner. The invitation delighted me and so I picked up my wind-breaker and make-shift Spanish and went to the dinner. The people in attendance were all Mexicans and generally my age and I felt right at home bringing goodwill to Mexico like a Peace Corps Trooper.
Then came the test. The dish at the other end of the dining table with steaming hot corn tortillas looked like a chicken goulash to me. Great, I thought: no ‘puerco’; Mexico is the pork eating capital of the world, surpassing even Germany. The assumed goulash came my way just the way I wanted it and that meant lots of it. Only when it was in front of me did I realize that this was not chicken that everyone was eating but cooked chicharrón.
Chicharrón – yes, do roll those r’s once you have finished rolling your eyes – is basically the fatty part of pig-skin dried and spiced like a cheese doodle. As a munchies food, it is just awful. Though enamored of México in many ways, when I see chicharrón, I head for the hills like Pancho Villa from Woodrow Wilson’s army. I shuddered at the unspeakable horror sitting in front of me. I neither noticed nor cared that others loved their fare. As far as I was concerned this stuff made high-school cream-chipped beef on toast (a / k / a SH*t on a shingle) look like food fit for a king.
I looked quickly for a dog to which I could inflict this madness. None around, dammit. I was trapped by Peace Corp’s second mission. So with all of the earnestness at my command, I ate the slop with no outward hesitance, relying on years on careful training for stoicism to see me through. For all of the private melodrama, the food was not half-bad. I even had a second helping!
What is that last line of the national anthem again? Something about the home of the brave? The only drawback I found was that the chicharrón had the texture of calamari I used to eat in Manhattan trying very hard to impress some dinner date that I was sophisticated. I faked it then and I faked it last night. The critical difference? In Manhattan, I was ‘enjoying’ calamari for some rank courting opportunism. Last night, I ‘enjoyed’ chicharrón for the good of the country.
I apologize for the longer than usual letter. I wanted to answer Choate teacher, Tony Hodgin’s, e-mailed response to my admittedly over-the-top statement that forty Peace Corps volunteers would do more than four hundred USAID field reps in Afghanistan. Actually, there are seventy volunteers in Mexico and my statement was an exaggeration. The reasoning behind it remains the same. Tony understands development issues better than most people; he deserves an answer (long over-due).
The seventy Peace Corps volunteers in Mexico are in a country that wants us to be there working on small projects that people can replicate easily. These matters are all about legacy. What will today’s people think of our efforts in twenty years. I am willing to bet USAID’s bottom dollar (never my own, of course) that Mexicans will not remember the technical skills conveyance or some $5,000 project for bee-hives. What they will remember are that those damn Yankees were damned good Yankees; that they were worth emulating by their basic decency and integrity.
In Afghanistan, however, USAID is operating in a very unfriendly and difficult environment. Much of its effort is being dissipated, with little of the way in positive legacy to leave behind. If the U.S. government pulls development work back to secure and truly welcoming parts of Afghanistan, the aid dollar will go much further. That said, there are other, debilitating issues with USAID around funding out-sourced ‘development’ contracts to a highly in-bred development community.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Letter 18: Peace Corps--American Boners Lost and Found
Well, it has been a long time since I have written. Mine has been an arduous month of trying to learn Spanish and getting acquainted with my upcoming responsibilities in the Peace Corps. Generally, I should be serving as a strategic planning and cost analysis advisor for an agency involved in the transfer of technology.
Truth be told: I am glad to be a volunteer since I these functional areas – and technology in general – are quite new to me. In any case, after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with civilian agencies, I fully realize that I will likely be doing something else -- and something new -- anyways.
This exciting opportunity will be like school again. I will be learning more than my counterparts will. More on all of that later, when I actually know what I am doing in México’s tech transfer program. At this point, I am delighted to say that my Peace Corps team-mates are top-notch and will be very instrumental to any success I might achieve.
In this note, I would like to discuss the usual pitfall of people in my position: unintentionally quizzical or comical remarks due to the use of false cognates or not knowing an unfamiliar language. Also posted, separately, is a photo-essay on México’s two hundredth birthday. This ‘stride toward freedom’ started right here in Querétaro!
NEVER TEASE SOMEONE ABOUT HIS OR HER IDEALS, especially environmentalists under thirty. At my advanced age, I really should know better: to dismiss another’s core values with levity is to attack someone’s beliefs. For example, a group of us were discussing coping strategies for loneliness in some orientation session. Stuffed animals were suggested as a means of reducing a sense of isolation in some remote place. Whereupon I stated, less than gallantly, that I would have brought my stuffed animal but the taxidermist wasn’t finished yet. At least I am alive to admonish you….
LANGUAGE GAFFES emerge with an annoying frequency. For example, three days ago, in trying to show off my Spanish speaking skills (sic), I discussed how actions can change one’s innate character over time. To defend this idea, I launched into a re-telling of the story in Oscar Wilde’s “Picture of Dorian Gray”.
Initially, I thought my argument had been too sophisticated for my class-mates to understand. Then I realized that I was saying that every time Dorian Gray committed a dead fish, his portrait would get uglier until it was so hideous he went to Hell. Of course, I had been intending to say that every time Dorian Gray committed a sin (i.e., the closest thing I could think of as a translation for “evil deeds”), the portrait worsened.
In Spanish, "pescado" means fish ready for eating whereas "pecado" means sin…what a difference one letter can make. These ‘mad-lib’ confusions occur almost every day; this fishy mis-statement being among the more entertaining. As my father told me many times, “Never try to make an impression because, by golly, you never know impression you are making.”
Then there is THE FALSE COGNATE “embarazada” which means “pregnant” in Spanish. As I aspire to be a man of culture, I will not go there on how ‘embarazada’ embarrassed me!
Truth be told: I am glad to be a volunteer since I these functional areas – and technology in general – are quite new to me. In any case, after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with civilian agencies, I fully realize that I will likely be doing something else -- and something new -- anyways.
This exciting opportunity will be like school again. I will be learning more than my counterparts will. More on all of that later, when I actually know what I am doing in México’s tech transfer program. At this point, I am delighted to say that my Peace Corps team-mates are top-notch and will be very instrumental to any success I might achieve.
In this note, I would like to discuss the usual pitfall of people in my position: unintentionally quizzical or comical remarks due to the use of false cognates or not knowing an unfamiliar language. Also posted, separately, is a photo-essay on México’s two hundredth birthday. This ‘stride toward freedom’ started right here in Querétaro!
NEVER TEASE SOMEONE ABOUT HIS OR HER IDEALS, especially environmentalists under thirty. At my advanced age, I really should know better: to dismiss another’s core values with levity is to attack someone’s beliefs. For example, a group of us were discussing coping strategies for loneliness in some orientation session. Stuffed animals were suggested as a means of reducing a sense of isolation in some remote place. Whereupon I stated, less than gallantly, that I would have brought my stuffed animal but the taxidermist wasn’t finished yet. At least I am alive to admonish you….
LANGUAGE GAFFES emerge with an annoying frequency. For example, three days ago, in trying to show off my Spanish speaking skills (sic), I discussed how actions can change one’s innate character over time. To defend this idea, I launched into a re-telling of the story in Oscar Wilde’s “Picture of Dorian Gray”.
Initially, I thought my argument had been too sophisticated for my class-mates to understand. Then I realized that I was saying that every time Dorian Gray committed a dead fish, his portrait would get uglier until it was so hideous he went to Hell. Of course, I had been intending to say that every time Dorian Gray committed a sin (i.e., the closest thing I could think of as a translation for “evil deeds”), the portrait worsened.
In Spanish, "pescado" means fish ready for eating whereas "pecado" means sin…what a difference one letter can make. These ‘mad-lib’ confusions occur almost every day; this fishy mis-statement being among the more entertaining. As my father told me many times, “Never try to make an impression because, by golly, you never know impression you are making.”
Then there is THE FALSE COGNATE “embarazada” which means “pregnant” in Spanish. As I aspire to be a man of culture, I will not go there on how ‘embarazada’ embarrassed me!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Letter 17: Closing thoughts on Afghanistan
This is the last letter and it is late in coming. “Lo siento” as my new host countrymen would say. There are three topics that I would like to address:
1. the wiki-leaks doc-dump of 91,000 secret documents on the Afghan war;
2. Mr Tony Hodgin’s – Choate History Teacher’s – discussion via e-mail on the culture of the U.S. Army in which American soldiers are willing to fight and die for people they do not always like and view the cohesion required for combat as a singular value; and,
3. my bailing on USAID in favor of the Peace Corps.
WIKI-SQUEAKS
BLUF: What is the big deal about leaks? They balance out the over-use of classification.
First, is a discussion point raised by Liz Seacord’s mother, a lovely and formidable woman with a sharp mind and clear conviction. Mrs Seacord was interested in my views on the wiki-leaks case. Truth-be-told: I am not really in a position to discuss this question meaningfully for two reasons. First, I have done very little reading on the subject and, second, I cannot seem to access the files themselves (if only to scratch the surface of some 200,000 pages of material).
In that very narrow view, I can say that the summary articles that I read at the time did not reveal anything that was not already accessible from very public sources. I heard General Petraeus state that the identities of some host country military intelligence assets had been compromised. Additionally, I read a New York Times article, while in the Adirondacks, that portrayed the leaker as a neurotic homosexual bent on gaining attention.
There is an obvious question: ¿Would the Army ever have put someone of this young man’s alleged disposition into a sensitive position? The following passage from the wiki-leaks page gainsays, at least in part, the sentiments portrayed by General Petraeus, a genuinely honest man and among the best America can produce. “We have delayed the release of some 15,000 reports from the total archive as part of a harm minimization process demanded by our source. After further review, these reports will be released, with occasional redactions, and eventually in full, as the security situation in Afghanistan permits.”
All that said, there has to be some license given to conscience with respect to disclosure of classified information. Popular accountability under a democracy relies upon it. That is to say: intention matters. In reviewing this soldier’s intentions, I believe that those who sit in judgement of this young man have to take the higher-order reasons into account, and not become diverted by the sensational as amplified in the media about the protagonist’s sexual preferences (implied as quirks) or personality profile. I believe we need also to keep things in perspective: secret information simply is not a big deal.
The dissemination of the U.S.A.’s nuclear secrets in the middle of the last century was likely the single largest act of treason ever in U.S. history. What ultimate harm came from that far more disloyal act? The world moved on and likely became a safer place. (The Secretary of State at the time had been loudly advocating the use of tactical nuclear weapons to bail out France in Indo-China.)
These 200,000 pages do not begin to approach this treason. These are after-action reports and do not tip-off the reader to actionable information to harm our younger brothers and sisters in uniform (and their brave Afghan counterparts).
While intentions count – and can over-ride normal tendencies toward retributive justice – they are not paramount. Safety of U.S. military personnel and local Afghan partners count for more. The question remains: ¿Is the young man a hero for blowing the whistle on a failing war or suited to rot in prison for betraying his country? Time and the Uniform Code of Military Justice – yes, this court system is fair – will make that determination.
The question pre-supposing any other remains open: ¿Did this U.S. soldier release names of specific people, thus endangering them? If so, he committed treason. If not, give him, at worst, a dishonorable discharge and move on. It is as likely that this leak will save lives by curtailing a failing counter-insurgency as it is to lose lives by revealing identities. Time and legal discovery will tell.
TONY HODGIN’s E-MAIL
BLUF: Cohesion of the active duty military unit leaves its imprimatur.
Tony was one of the more popular teachers at Choate and was well known for his service in the Peace Corps. Though I never had the honor of taking one of Tony’s courses, his status as a Peace Corps volunteer – not to mention the school’s most famous alumnus being the initiator of it (Cuerpo de Paz in Mexico) – may have planted the seeds leading up to this decision.
Tony was writing me about the newly released book, ‘War’ by Sebastian Junger. In his note to me Tony stated, “Why do guys want to come back to the war zone time and again and miss it so much when back home? Why do they risk and sometimes give their lives to save fellows they don't particularly like?”
Again, as was the case with Mrs Seacord, I am going to be a weenie and say that I do not know. When I have worked with National Guard units, the cohesion is strong but not rigid, allowing my fuller participation. When I have served with active duty units, I have always felt like an outsider looking in.
My efforts to insinuate myself into the group resembled a moth trying to eat his way through chain-mail. Theoretically, it’s possible but unlikely. That is to say: group cohesion runs very high. My experience reflects no criticism of our armed forces, especially those men and women serving in active duty.
The fact of the matter is that this cohesion has strengthened with the onset of the professional army over the past thirty-five years and will most likely continue. This cohesion saves U.S. lives in combat situation by enabling tightly coordinated field tactics. It allows the foot soldiers to spread out in dangerous fields to reach down to the local communities.
The criticism that a certain myopia and rigidness may set in due to the ambitions of senior field grade officers pushing for results is valid. Another difficulty with active duty units remains the lack of genuine internal communication between companies, with other units or government players to integrate the unexpected.
All that said, however, a combination of an extended line of communication (i.e., the reach of U.S. forces); the “battle rhythm” (i.e., how the U.S. Army does business); and, the day-to-day courage of our youngest and best enable U.S. Army and Marines in Afghanistan to be the only source of development actually reaching the people quickly and consistently.
Much of it is proving to be marginallyeffective whilw much is critically successful. Again, read this response to Tony with a grain of salt since I would never ‘blend’ in the Army and since I was in the North of Afghanistan and not a kinetic area.
THE SWITCH
BLUF: Better late than never, mios amigos.
This answer is short. I had stated in my college applications in excess of thirty years ago that my first ambition was to serve in the Peace Corps. Well it took long enough. The reason for walking out on a great job is because I think Afghanistan is crumbling; worse yet, it is wrecking USAID with excess funding amounts corrupting the development structure of “implementing partners” and undermining due-diligence. So, coward that I am, I did not want to live through the institutional crisis dead-ahead to USAID. Secondly, the Peace Corps will make a true professional of me in development…or so I hope.
1. the wiki-leaks doc-dump of 91,000 secret documents on the Afghan war;
2. Mr Tony Hodgin’s – Choate History Teacher’s – discussion via e-mail on the culture of the U.S. Army in which American soldiers are willing to fight and die for people they do not always like and view the cohesion required for combat as a singular value; and,
3. my bailing on USAID in favor of the Peace Corps.
WIKI-SQUEAKS
BLUF: What is the big deal about leaks? They balance out the over-use of classification.
First, is a discussion point raised by Liz Seacord’s mother, a lovely and formidable woman with a sharp mind and clear conviction. Mrs Seacord was interested in my views on the wiki-leaks case. Truth-be-told: I am not really in a position to discuss this question meaningfully for two reasons. First, I have done very little reading on the subject and, second, I cannot seem to access the files themselves (if only to scratch the surface of some 200,000 pages of material).
In that very narrow view, I can say that the summary articles that I read at the time did not reveal anything that was not already accessible from very public sources. I heard General Petraeus state that the identities of some host country military intelligence assets had been compromised. Additionally, I read a New York Times article, while in the Adirondacks, that portrayed the leaker as a neurotic homosexual bent on gaining attention.
There is an obvious question: ¿Would the Army ever have put someone of this young man’s alleged disposition into a sensitive position? The following passage from the wiki-leaks page gainsays, at least in part, the sentiments portrayed by General Petraeus, a genuinely honest man and among the best America can produce. “We have delayed the release of some 15,000 reports from the total archive as part of a harm minimization process demanded by our source. After further review, these reports will be released, with occasional redactions, and eventually in full, as the security situation in Afghanistan permits.”
All that said, there has to be some license given to conscience with respect to disclosure of classified information. Popular accountability under a democracy relies upon it. That is to say: intention matters. In reviewing this soldier’s intentions, I believe that those who sit in judgement of this young man have to take the higher-order reasons into account, and not become diverted by the sensational as amplified in the media about the protagonist’s sexual preferences (implied as quirks) or personality profile. I believe we need also to keep things in perspective: secret information simply is not a big deal.
The dissemination of the U.S.A.’s nuclear secrets in the middle of the last century was likely the single largest act of treason ever in U.S. history. What ultimate harm came from that far more disloyal act? The world moved on and likely became a safer place. (The Secretary of State at the time had been loudly advocating the use of tactical nuclear weapons to bail out France in Indo-China.)
These 200,000 pages do not begin to approach this treason. These are after-action reports and do not tip-off the reader to actionable information to harm our younger brothers and sisters in uniform (and their brave Afghan counterparts).
While intentions count – and can over-ride normal tendencies toward retributive justice – they are not paramount. Safety of U.S. military personnel and local Afghan partners count for more. The question remains: ¿Is the young man a hero for blowing the whistle on a failing war or suited to rot in prison for betraying his country? Time and the Uniform Code of Military Justice – yes, this court system is fair – will make that determination.
The question pre-supposing any other remains open: ¿Did this U.S. soldier release names of specific people, thus endangering them? If so, he committed treason. If not, give him, at worst, a dishonorable discharge and move on. It is as likely that this leak will save lives by curtailing a failing counter-insurgency as it is to lose lives by revealing identities. Time and legal discovery will tell.
TONY HODGIN’s E-MAIL
BLUF: Cohesion of the active duty military unit leaves its imprimatur.
Tony was one of the more popular teachers at Choate and was well known for his service in the Peace Corps. Though I never had the honor of taking one of Tony’s courses, his status as a Peace Corps volunteer – not to mention the school’s most famous alumnus being the initiator of it (Cuerpo de Paz in Mexico) – may have planted the seeds leading up to this decision.
Tony was writing me about the newly released book, ‘War’ by Sebastian Junger. In his note to me Tony stated, “Why do guys want to come back to the war zone time and again and miss it so much when back home? Why do they risk and sometimes give their lives to save fellows they don't particularly like?”
Again, as was the case with Mrs Seacord, I am going to be a weenie and say that I do not know. When I have worked with National Guard units, the cohesion is strong but not rigid, allowing my fuller participation. When I have served with active duty units, I have always felt like an outsider looking in.
My efforts to insinuate myself into the group resembled a moth trying to eat his way through chain-mail. Theoretically, it’s possible but unlikely. That is to say: group cohesion runs very high. My experience reflects no criticism of our armed forces, especially those men and women serving in active duty.
The fact of the matter is that this cohesion has strengthened with the onset of the professional army over the past thirty-five years and will most likely continue. This cohesion saves U.S. lives in combat situation by enabling tightly coordinated field tactics. It allows the foot soldiers to spread out in dangerous fields to reach down to the local communities.
The criticism that a certain myopia and rigidness may set in due to the ambitions of senior field grade officers pushing for results is valid. Another difficulty with active duty units remains the lack of genuine internal communication between companies, with other units or government players to integrate the unexpected.
All that said, however, a combination of an extended line of communication (i.e., the reach of U.S. forces); the “battle rhythm” (i.e., how the U.S. Army does business); and, the day-to-day courage of our youngest and best enable U.S. Army and Marines in Afghanistan to be the only source of development actually reaching the people quickly and consistently.
Much of it is proving to be marginallyeffective whilw much is critically successful. Again, read this response to Tony with a grain of salt since I would never ‘blend’ in the Army and since I was in the North of Afghanistan and not a kinetic area.
THE SWITCH
BLUF: Better late than never, mios amigos.
This answer is short. I had stated in my college applications in excess of thirty years ago that my first ambition was to serve in the Peace Corps. Well it took long enough. The reason for walking out on a great job is because I think Afghanistan is crumbling; worse yet, it is wrecking USAID with excess funding amounts corrupting the development structure of “implementing partners” and undermining due-diligence. So, coward that I am, I did not want to live through the institutional crisis dead-ahead to USAID. Secondly, the Peace Corps will make a true professional of me in development…or so I hope.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Letter-16: Excerpts from 'Best Practice' Discussion with USAID
PRT Best Practices Lessons Learned QUESTION GUIDE:
HOW OFTEN ARE YOU ABLE TO GET OUT TO THE FIELD?
ARE YOU A SELF-DRIVE AREA? HOW IS MOBILITY IN YOUR AREA?
NedMcD: Any day I got off dead center for Kunduz-proper. Less frequently for points beyond. CIMIC (Bundeswehr Civil Affairs) was supportive for idea generation, translators and transportation to Taloqan. GA National Guard / 10th MTN were very helpful, especially GA National Guard; most new major projects in Kunduz through support of Georgia National Guard Company and the Tenth Mountain Division.
HOW KINETIC IS YOUR AREA?
NedMcD: Not particularly. Two districts in Kunduz (Aliabad and Chahar Dara) are contested; parts are violent with outside insurgents coming in (about 200). The attacks on NGOs are disturbing and, with the killing of medical personnel in Nuristan, will likely lead to exits by remaining international donors. At great risk are EGGI (USAID) and UNDP (elections).
Would recommend not locating EGGI personnel in Kunduz. Risk assessment by 10th MTN Division too severe for the rest of Kunduz. Takhar has crime problems in the northwest part of the province, leaving two districts (Darqad and Yangi Qala) up for grabs and moderately ‘infecting’ two other districts.
CAN YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MILITARY SIDE OF THE PRT? (HOW IS THE CIV/MIL RELATIONSHIP?).
NedMcD: Excellent. I enjoyed working with these people, particularly D-CO of the 10th MTN. The two most popularly successful projects in Kunduz initiated by me came through the foot patrols of the GA National Guard (in Khanabad District) and the 10th MTN (in Kunduz proper). The German CIMIC group came through with twelve proposals in Kunduz city (four) and Takhar (eight).
WHAT INITIATIVES ARE YOU AND YOUR TEAM CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING? ARE THERE ANY MAJOR PROJECTS WORTH NOTING?
NedMcD: The most worthy projects undertaken by me are the women’s rights media campaign in Takhar, initiated by the UNAMA governance officer there and the previously mentioned projects in Khanabad and Kunduz city.
HOW OFTEN ARE YOU ABLE TO INTERACT WITH LOCAL LEADERS AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL?
NedMcD: Frequently in Kunduz; just starting in Takhar, though provincial officials. The Director of Health and Governor’s executive officer in Taloqan were prepared to enable me to visit districts or facilities.
WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH INTER-AGENCY PROVINCIAL AFFAIRS OFFICE AND THE KABUL EMB?
NedMcD: Excellent. Always received prompt, professional responses. Sometimes we differed but the explanations were thorough and helped me up the learning curve quickly.
HOW DOES THE GOVERNMENT FUNCTION IN YOUR AREA? (DESCRIBE LOCAL GOVERNANCE)
NedMcD: In Takhar, where funding is not as available, governance is progressing along smartly as the Governor and Provincial Council realize that they will need to solve the problems on their own. In Kunduz, where the expectation for funding is greater, officials have less incentive to solve problems and constantly try to manipulate or shame donors into giving money. Consequently, capacity-building is lagging in Kunduz, where the outside funding is!
CAN YOU MEASURE CORRUPTION IN YOUR AREA? IS IT AN ISSUE?
NedMcD: While reports of corruption in Kunduz were widespread, I found the leaders approachable. My FSO colleague may have a better view through materials he received from the Germans; he very rarely left the military compound and so his field-feel was constricted.
WHAT ARE THE ROOT CAUSES OF INSTABILITY IN YOUR REGION?
NedMcD: Absence of community policing and, perhaps, a lack of enforcement of new standards of governance (e.g., women’s rights). The COIN effort should be re-cast as combating a crime-wave. The ideology will take care of itself over the generation or two. Many of the so-called jihadists would probably be vandals in more peaceful times.
The current incentive structure of twelve dollars per day for insurgent mercenary allows anti-government elements to indulge in anti-social behavior under the guise of a bogus jihad. The failure by the USG, ISAF and GIRoA to be aggressive in protecting women and their newly ordained rights may be making the situation more difficult for women as gender-based abuse reaches into the all levels of society, including the legal and law-enforcement machinery.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN YOUR AREA OF OPERATIONS – AND HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THINGS CHANGE OVER TIME?
NedMcD: Seven months. Saw both positive and negative changes. While security has deteriorated, as punctuated by the attack on the facility of an implementing partner six weeks ago in Kunduz, local Pashtun push-back in a contested district to improve – and keep open – all but one girls’ school vindicates the German policy of engaging that population on the premise that “we don’t have to like or trust each other but simply work together.”
LESSONS LEARNED – WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU KNEW BEFORE YOU CAME TO AFG?
NedMcD: In the case of people working on non-U.S. PRTs or FOBs, clearer guidance on what to do when area U.S. forces need assistance that conflicts with the preferences of the ruling country at the PRT. Also, training on what the Special Forces do and how we can help.
BEST PRACTICES – ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT FOR OTHERS TO LEARN FROM?
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD? ADVICE FOR OTHERS?
NedMcD: Remember that support can include what one does not want to hear; promptness and candor are more important. Do not try to pull an end-run on other departments or the chain-of-command in Kabul simply because the idea is apparently beyond the comprehension of others, particularly in Kabul. There are almost always good reasons for the restraints imposed. Money is less important than kindness, courtesy and respect. People need to know that we have faith in their determination – however imperfect – to build their country’s destiny.
Remember, too, that Moses marched the liberated Israelites through the desert for forty years for a very good reason: it takes two generations for the capacity-building seeds planted today to manifest. Lastly, look at Viet Nam thirty-five years after the U.S. defeat. The country today resembles what the U.S. tried to make of it forty years ago.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF YOUR JOB?
NedMcD: Troubleshoot programs administered out of Kabul; set up visits and facilitate contacts. Meet and be supportive to the efforts of local leadership. Seek and secure funding for, as well as implementation of, local development projects
WHAT WAS THE GUIDANCE YOU RECEIVED BEFORE YOU ASSUMED YOUR POST? WAS THIS SUFFICIENT? DID YOU RECEIVE TRAINING BEFORE YOU CAME TO POST? WAS IT USEFUL FOR THE WORK YOU ARE DOING?
NedMcD: The guidance was minimal and not sufficient. This fact was not the fault of USAID; we had to be in the field quickly. Sufficient training would have required at least six months, probably a year. The key, however, has proved to be the access to, and patience demonstrated by, the professionals in Kabul. So while lack of front-ended readiness was inevitable, USAID handled my learning curve very well.
WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY CHALLENGES FOR YOU IN ACHIEVING YOUR OBJECTIVES?
NedMcD: My own necessity to learn the tasks of the job. On the funding: I realized in the COTR / AOTR course that my colleagues to the south and east were facing a far more challenging problem of being pressured to fund projects without time or head-count needed for prudence. The concern is that people will be subject in the future to changing standards of accountability – from the looseness of pushing billions out the door to far more exacting standards – when the inspectors general arrive.
HOW DO YOU COORDINATE AND MAKE DECISIONS AS AN INTERAGENCY/CIV-MIL TEAM? DOES THIS WORK WELL? WHY OR WHY NOT? HAS THIS BEEN FORMALIZED (I.E. WRITTEN DOWN) OR IS IT INFORMAL?
NedMcD: There was a meeting with the Bundeswehr CIMIC to align priorities. Otherwise my close collaboration with GTZ (the German USAID) the U.N. (for the women’s media proposals) etc. came through my initiative. In this respect, the support and encouragement of the two senior FSOs in Mazar-i-Sharif were indispensible for that initiative. I also convvened the first meeting -- informally and off-the-record of U.N., uniformed military, local government and development personnel. Off-the-record because the U.N. officers were not supposed to coordinating with U.S. Army uniformed officers.
This meeting benefitted the province directly by creating the urgency to put contingency plans into place in the case of earth-quakes. While I convened the meeting, it was a U.S. National Guard Officer, with a career as an envirommental engineer States-side. His knowledge of the Alaska earthquake of 1965 and his ability to detect the same ground formation across Kunduz led him to approach me. Fortunately, I was able to convey the urgency to other stake-holders and, honestly, everybody wanted the meeting. My convening was limited to setting a compatible time and ordering food,
WHO ARE THE MAIN ACTORS OUTSIDE OF YOUR POST THAT YOU REGULARLY INTERACT WITH?
NedMcD: The U.S. Army (as discussed), UNAMA. The E.U., the German military & foreign ministries; local and provincial officials; and, NGOs (e.g., Mercy Corps).
WHAT IS YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE RELATED TO THIS WORK?
NedMcD. A senior budgeting & national security advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior; a senior economic advisor & knowledge manager at an Iraqi PRT; as well as, a strategic planner for military assistance for the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq.
HOW OFTEN ARE YOU ABLE TO GET OUT TO THE FIELD?
ARE YOU A SELF-DRIVE AREA? HOW IS MOBILITY IN YOUR AREA?
NedMcD: Any day I got off dead center for Kunduz-proper. Less frequently for points beyond. CIMIC (Bundeswehr Civil Affairs) was supportive for idea generation, translators and transportation to Taloqan. GA National Guard / 10th MTN were very helpful, especially GA National Guard; most new major projects in Kunduz through support of Georgia National Guard Company and the Tenth Mountain Division.
HOW KINETIC IS YOUR AREA?
NedMcD: Not particularly. Two districts in Kunduz (Aliabad and Chahar Dara) are contested; parts are violent with outside insurgents coming in (about 200). The attacks on NGOs are disturbing and, with the killing of medical personnel in Nuristan, will likely lead to exits by remaining international donors. At great risk are EGGI (USAID) and UNDP (elections).
Would recommend not locating EGGI personnel in Kunduz. Risk assessment by 10th MTN Division too severe for the rest of Kunduz. Takhar has crime problems in the northwest part of the province, leaving two districts (Darqad and Yangi Qala) up for grabs and moderately ‘infecting’ two other districts.
CAN YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MILITARY SIDE OF THE PRT? (HOW IS THE CIV/MIL RELATIONSHIP?).
NedMcD: Excellent. I enjoyed working with these people, particularly D-CO of the 10th MTN. The two most popularly successful projects in Kunduz initiated by me came through the foot patrols of the GA National Guard (in Khanabad District) and the 10th MTN (in Kunduz proper). The German CIMIC group came through with twelve proposals in Kunduz city (four) and Takhar (eight).
WHAT INITIATIVES ARE YOU AND YOUR TEAM CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING? ARE THERE ANY MAJOR PROJECTS WORTH NOTING?
NedMcD: The most worthy projects undertaken by me are the women’s rights media campaign in Takhar, initiated by the UNAMA governance officer there and the previously mentioned projects in Khanabad and Kunduz city.
HOW OFTEN ARE YOU ABLE TO INTERACT WITH LOCAL LEADERS AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL?
NedMcD: Frequently in Kunduz; just starting in Takhar, though provincial officials. The Director of Health and Governor’s executive officer in Taloqan were prepared to enable me to visit districts or facilities.
WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH INTER-AGENCY PROVINCIAL AFFAIRS OFFICE AND THE KABUL EMB?
NedMcD: Excellent. Always received prompt, professional responses. Sometimes we differed but the explanations were thorough and helped me up the learning curve quickly.
HOW DOES THE GOVERNMENT FUNCTION IN YOUR AREA? (DESCRIBE LOCAL GOVERNANCE)
NedMcD: In Takhar, where funding is not as available, governance is progressing along smartly as the Governor and Provincial Council realize that they will need to solve the problems on their own. In Kunduz, where the expectation for funding is greater, officials have less incentive to solve problems and constantly try to manipulate or shame donors into giving money. Consequently, capacity-building is lagging in Kunduz, where the outside funding is!
CAN YOU MEASURE CORRUPTION IN YOUR AREA? IS IT AN ISSUE?
NedMcD: While reports of corruption in Kunduz were widespread, I found the leaders approachable. My FSO colleague may have a better view through materials he received from the Germans; he very rarely left the military compound and so his field-feel was constricted.
WHAT ARE THE ROOT CAUSES OF INSTABILITY IN YOUR REGION?
NedMcD: Absence of community policing and, perhaps, a lack of enforcement of new standards of governance (e.g., women’s rights). The COIN effort should be re-cast as combating a crime-wave. The ideology will take care of itself over the generation or two. Many of the so-called jihadists would probably be vandals in more peaceful times.
The current incentive structure of twelve dollars per day for insurgent mercenary allows anti-government elements to indulge in anti-social behavior under the guise of a bogus jihad. The failure by the USG, ISAF and GIRoA to be aggressive in protecting women and their newly ordained rights may be making the situation more difficult for women as gender-based abuse reaches into the all levels of society, including the legal and law-enforcement machinery.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN YOUR AREA OF OPERATIONS – AND HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THINGS CHANGE OVER TIME?
NedMcD: Seven months. Saw both positive and negative changes. While security has deteriorated, as punctuated by the attack on the facility of an implementing partner six weeks ago in Kunduz, local Pashtun push-back in a contested district to improve – and keep open – all but one girls’ school vindicates the German policy of engaging that population on the premise that “we don’t have to like or trust each other but simply work together.”
LESSONS LEARNED – WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU KNEW BEFORE YOU CAME TO AFG?
NedMcD: In the case of people working on non-U.S. PRTs or FOBs, clearer guidance on what to do when area U.S. forces need assistance that conflicts with the preferences of the ruling country at the PRT. Also, training on what the Special Forces do and how we can help.
BEST PRACTICES – ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT FOR OTHERS TO LEARN FROM?
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD? ADVICE FOR OTHERS?
NedMcD: Remember that support can include what one does not want to hear; promptness and candor are more important. Do not try to pull an end-run on other departments or the chain-of-command in Kabul simply because the idea is apparently beyond the comprehension of others, particularly in Kabul. There are almost always good reasons for the restraints imposed. Money is less important than kindness, courtesy and respect. People need to know that we have faith in their determination – however imperfect – to build their country’s destiny.
Remember, too, that Moses marched the liberated Israelites through the desert for forty years for a very good reason: it takes two generations for the capacity-building seeds planted today to manifest. Lastly, look at Viet Nam thirty-five years after the U.S. defeat. The country today resembles what the U.S. tried to make of it forty years ago.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF YOUR JOB?
NedMcD: Troubleshoot programs administered out of Kabul; set up visits and facilitate contacts. Meet and be supportive to the efforts of local leadership. Seek and secure funding for, as well as implementation of, local development projects
WHAT WAS THE GUIDANCE YOU RECEIVED BEFORE YOU ASSUMED YOUR POST? WAS THIS SUFFICIENT? DID YOU RECEIVE TRAINING BEFORE YOU CAME TO POST? WAS IT USEFUL FOR THE WORK YOU ARE DOING?
NedMcD: The guidance was minimal and not sufficient. This fact was not the fault of USAID; we had to be in the field quickly. Sufficient training would have required at least six months, probably a year. The key, however, has proved to be the access to, and patience demonstrated by, the professionals in Kabul. So while lack of front-ended readiness was inevitable, USAID handled my learning curve very well.
WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY CHALLENGES FOR YOU IN ACHIEVING YOUR OBJECTIVES?
NedMcD: My own necessity to learn the tasks of the job. On the funding: I realized in the COTR / AOTR course that my colleagues to the south and east were facing a far more challenging problem of being pressured to fund projects without time or head-count needed for prudence. The concern is that people will be subject in the future to changing standards of accountability – from the looseness of pushing billions out the door to far more exacting standards – when the inspectors general arrive.
HOW DO YOU COORDINATE AND MAKE DECISIONS AS AN INTERAGENCY/CIV-MIL TEAM? DOES THIS WORK WELL? WHY OR WHY NOT? HAS THIS BEEN FORMALIZED (I.E. WRITTEN DOWN) OR IS IT INFORMAL?
NedMcD: There was a meeting with the Bundeswehr CIMIC to align priorities. Otherwise my close collaboration with GTZ (the German USAID) the U.N. (for the women’s media proposals) etc. came through my initiative. In this respect, the support and encouragement of the two senior FSOs in Mazar-i-Sharif were indispensible for that initiative. I also convvened the first meeting -- informally and off-the-record of U.N., uniformed military, local government and development personnel. Off-the-record because the U.N. officers were not supposed to coordinating with U.S. Army uniformed officers.
This meeting benefitted the province directly by creating the urgency to put contingency plans into place in the case of earth-quakes. While I convened the meeting, it was a U.S. National Guard Officer, with a career as an envirommental engineer States-side. His knowledge of the Alaska earthquake of 1965 and his ability to detect the same ground formation across Kunduz led him to approach me. Fortunately, I was able to convey the urgency to other stake-holders and, honestly, everybody wanted the meeting. My convening was limited to setting a compatible time and ordering food,
WHO ARE THE MAIN ACTORS OUTSIDE OF YOUR POST THAT YOU REGULARLY INTERACT WITH?
NedMcD: The U.S. Army (as discussed), UNAMA. The E.U., the German military & foreign ministries; local and provincial officials; and, NGOs (e.g., Mercy Corps).
WHAT IS YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE RELATED TO THIS WORK?
NedMcD. A senior budgeting & national security advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior; a senior economic advisor & knowledge manager at an Iraqi PRT; as well as, a strategic planner for military assistance for the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq.
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