Taliban In Afghanistan Now Face A New Afghan Force - The " Guardians "

One can only hope that the newly unveiled Afghan tribal force outside of Kabul, Afghanistan will work - like the Awakenings worked in Anbar province of Iraq and the Sons of Iraq worked in other parts of Iraq. U.S. military officials are calling this new tribal force "The Guardianss" as they will be manning checkpoints in tribal areas and more importantly, these fighters will represent the eyes and the ears for U.S., NATO and Afghan forces in respect to intel on the Taliban. Here's some of the details of the story from over at NPR:

In central Afghanistan, the latest graduates of a new security program targeting the Taliban assumed their duties Thursday on the outskirts of Kabul.
The "Guardians," as the Afghan force is called by its U.S. Special Forces mentors, are part of the pilot Afghan Public Protection Program that American and Afghan officials hope to re-create across Afghanistan.
The program is similar to the U.S.-backed "Sons of Iraq" movement that turned local tribesmen against al-Qaida in Iraq.

Afghan and U.S. officials say the Guardians are the first line of defense for their tribes against militants and criminals. But more important, they serve as the eyes and ears for the Afghan security forces and their American partners.

The biggest job of The Guardians is the intel and U.S. Special Operations trainers are quick to point out that this is NOT a militia - the strategy is simply for this group to maintain some basic security operations so Afghan tribal police can be freed up and most importantly, The Guardians will pass along what is really happening with Taliban movements, planning, etc.

We sometimes forget that in the turning point in the Iraq War against al Qaeda, it was the deluge of information that came into U.S. forces on just where al Qaeda in Iraq was hiding, where they were moving and what operations were being planned - that intel from the locals in Iraq led to dozens and dozens of mid level al Qaeda commanders being caught and killed.

With the Taliban, they are constantly moving...so one can imagine how invaluable it would be for a local force to be constantly updating U.S. and NATO forces on those specific movements. At the same time, it stands to reason that The Guardians will be subjected to the same attacks that the Awakenings were - the Taliban will do their best to break the spirit of these watchers...and I guess we'll see just what these new recruits are made of.

New Afghan Force Joins Fight Against Taliban

Manning Checkpoints, Gathering Intelligence

Afghan and U.S. officials say the Guardians are the first line of defense for their tribes against militants and criminals. But more important, they serve as the eyes and ears for the Afghan security forces and their American partners.
The Special Forces mentors insist the force is not a militia, as critics contend. They point out that the Guardians are trained by and answer to the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, which also runs Afghanistan's police force.
But persuading local tribal leaders to offer up young men to join has not been easy in some parts of the province, especially after three public protection force members were killed last month by a remote-controlled roadside bomb.
Provincial council chairman Haji Janan was one of many speakers this day who told the elders more protection force members are needed.
Hours later, the men were deployed to their checkpoints for their first shift.
In the pitch black night at a checkpoint in the suburb of Familiah, commander Sher Agha complained that his men don't even have a flashlight to shine on militants who might happen their way.
"Our first night here is tough," he said, speaking in Dari and clutching his AK-47 assault rifle. "The government needs to make sure we at this checkpoint are better equipped. We can't even see if someone coming is friend or foe."
The American commander known as Johnny Utah told Sher Agha to call his commander and tell him about his problems. He also gave the Afghan officer his flashlight to borrow until morning.