US detainee program still cause of ire in Afghanistan

CAMP DUBS, Afghanistan - The Pashtun tribal leaders picked at the chocolate cake and fruit laid out for them at the conference table. Politely, they listened to speeches touting a new program to release detainees from Afghanistan's largest US-run military prison if community leaders vouch for them.

Then, one of the elders from the eastern province of Logar stood up and started asking questions.

Why were the four men who were being released detained for months at the facility outside Bagram Air Field with no evidence? Why do American soldiers still raid homes without consulting local leaders?

"The Afghan people are hearing a lot of talk," said Walir Wakil, a community leader who wore a yellow turban and a suit jacket over his traditional robes. Where, he asked, is the proof of President Barack Obama's stated policy of foreign troops working more closely with local government?

The ceremony for a new community-release program established for the 600 suspected Taliban supporters held at Bagram prison led to pointed criticism that cut to the heart of the dilemma facing the NATO-led mission's strategy in Afghanistan.

Since US General Stanley McChrystal took over as the military alliance's commander last year, he's made it a priority to consult local representatives as part of a counterinsurgency policy to win hearts and minds away from the Taliban insurgency. But often, events held to build goodwill end up airing years' worth of pent-up grievance - such as during the prisoner release ceremony on Wednesday at Camp Dubs, an Afghan army camp on Kabul's outskirts.

Under a program started in January, local Afghan leaders can petition for and win release of Bagram prisoners not deemed a threat if area chiefs pledge to monitor them for signs they are aiding the insurgency. The policy is part of a transition for the Afghan government to take control of the detention facility within a year.

The Bagram prison is a particularly sensitive issue in Afghanistan, where one of the population's chief complaints has been foreign troops raiding homes at night and taking people away with little explanation.

Navy Capt. Patrick McCarthy, representing the US military at the Bagram release ceremony, offered no defense of American actions - only a plea for patience.

"We are changing the way we do business so that Afghans and Americans are partners shoulder-to-shoulder," McCarthy said. "It takes some time to get it all the way correctly."

The US military has in the past quietly freed Bagram detainees it deems no longer a threat. However, this week's release was a formal event involving the provincial governor and dozens of local elders brought in from Logar, the province immediately south of Kabul.

Associated Press

(China Daily 03/12/2010 page11)