Petraeus: U.S. Lacks Understanding Of Afghan Tribal Society

From The Wall Street Journal:

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010, 1:12 P.M. ET.Petraeus: U.S. Lacks Afghan Tribal Knowledge

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, is greeted by U.S. General David Petraeus as he arrives in Kabul Thursday.

.KABUL—The U.S. military's effort in Afghanistan has been hampered by a poor understanding of individual tribes and local leaders, Gen. David A. Petraeus said Thursday.



Unlike in Iraq, the U.S. has long lacked a detailed knowledge of the motivations and allegiances of various Afghan tribes and tribal elders, said Gen. Petraeus, the top allied commander in Afghanistan.



"We have never had the granular understanding of local circumstances in Afghanistan that we achieved over time in Iraq," Gen. Petraeus said. "One of the key elements in our ability to be agile in our activities in Iraq during the surge was a pretty good understanding who the power brokers were in local areas, how the systems were supposed to work, how they really worked."



Earlier this year, under Gen. Petraeus's predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization tried to overhaul its intelligence collection, to focus more on learning about individual tribes and local Afghan leaders. Gen. Petraeus said only now the military was getting an "understanding of local circumstances, customs and tribal relationships."



Although he has said many times that Afghanistan isn't Iraq, Gen. Petraeus on Thursday sketched out an Afghan strategy that literally took a page from his Iraq approach. Gen. Petraeus's diagram of his Afghan strategy was based on a slide he showed Congress during the Iraq surge and even uses the same name: "Anaconda," a title meant to evoke a snake encircling the insurgency.



After his talk with reporters, Gen. Petraeus met with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who arrived in Kabul Thursday. The two men were scheduled to meet later in the day with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.



Even as he ramps up the effort in Afghanistan, Gen. Petraeus is under pressure both from U.S. officials and NATO leaders to outline an aggressive timetable for handing over swaths of the country to Afghan forces.



Gen. Petraeus said he would present a "measured projection" of the planned transition next year at a NATO conference in Lisbon that is scheduled for November.



In most cases the allied military command will hand over responsibility for districts, rather than larger provinces, Gen. Petraeus said. In addition while some units from areas where control is handed over may be sent home, others will be redeployed to other trouble spots.



"The concept is to thin out, not just to hand off," he said.