Harder Movements

It’s getting harder to move to and within the Ministry.  A couple of weeks ago, advisors at another ministry were ambushed by a guard while they walked between buildings.  The guard was killed and fortunately, no coalition force members were killed.  What that means for all of us is that we now have to wear our body armor even after we get inside the Ministry compound until we arrive in our counterpart’s office.  On one hand safety is important, but the message is just as important. If I wear armor, I am saying to my counterpart that I have little faith in him and his guards.  It’s a subtle, but important balance I have to maintain.  I explained the new rules to my counterpart, and he reminded me that only God knows the time of our demise, so this concern over armor and weapons has its limits.  This fatalistic view has always bothered me.  The good Lord gave us a brain as well to keep us from taking unnecessary risks.  Just this week, a suicide bomber struck at the back gate of the Ministry of Defense killing a dozen or so Government workers as they left for the day.  Fortunately my peers who advise there using walking movements don’t use that Gate as it exits out of the Green Zone.  That said, nothing is guaranteed here.  I weigh the risks every day of weather to even go outside the wire, and have done so fifty times now in vehicle convoys which are safer, but as with the ambush incident, nothing is guaranteed. Advisors now are bit more attentive at the convoy pre-briefs. 

 

Walking Movement

 

Change the Deal

The coalition has invested in a number of staffing programs to seed the Ministries with young bright Afghans as well as seasoned professionals.  Some are very expensive, while others not so much.  It’s an aspect of many years and many chefs trying to make this place work.  Up until this point, the coalition has footed the bill, but if sustainability has any chance of succeeding, these disparate programs need to be streamlined and reengineered so the Afghans have skin in the game.  The latest program being developed requires the Afghans to pay 50% of the salary of senior advisors from day one and we pick up the rest.  The thought being that the locals will be more critical of the positions they want filled.  Yet, recently the Afghans asked to do away with the transparent hiring procedures to quickly hire those they want by name.  We don’t need another patronage network in this country, so we have resisted.   They like our free money, but not so much the strings.  Weeks go by…..and a new request arrives for the coalition to pick up the entire salary tab for the first six months and they would fund the rest later…..or better yet if we could pay it all for the year.  They have nerve.

Shakeup

The Minister just resigned and the Principal Deputy Minister in charge of all Police has been replaced.  There are rumors that the Deputy Minister I deal with for supporting the forces is on shaky ground as well.  The Director General for Finance and the Inspector General I advise seem to be safe, for now.  In this culture, when there are such leadership changes, little progress can be expected as subordinates are loathed to make any firm decisions, much less craft new initiatives, lest they be seen as making power plays.  We have key initiatives on Procurement, Accounting, Requirements planning and Civilianization which now may be slowed, or worse, curtailed.  This was not a good time for such turmoil, especially so at the start of the 2016 fighting season.  This seems like catastrophe to us, but oddly the Afghans don’t seem as concerned.  It’s as almost they are playing musical chairs, where leaders merely rotate jobs.  No one really gets sacked.  They just change jobs or employment status for a while. A perfect management scheme for no progress.

 

Progress?

Just returned from a couple of weeks back in the States where I took in the vibe of Miami, enjoyed a few good tropical drinks and went to the beach.  Three things we can’t do here.  I pride myself in being able to juggle a number of tasks and initiatives here, but now with three and a half months left to go, its time to prioritize what I can reasonably expect to accomplish.  Things progressed somewhat while I was on R&R, but just like back home, if you don’t stay on top of things and adjust course as needed, things just slow down.  My Afghan partners remain eager and willing to accept our money, but don’t seem too eager to produce the paper necessary to get it.  It’s almost as if I am starting from scratch.  “Mr. George, why haven’t the Old Food Bills been paid yet? they say almost demandingly.  “Well, you did not complete the applications, conduct the analysis and bounce the requirements against the acquisition policies as we had agreed to before I went on R&R” I say like a parent whose child didn’t do their chores, but still wants money for the movie.  “Hmm, well how about you begin paying while we produce the documents?”………..Really?  I’m sorry gentlemen but the US citizens would not see that as acceptable, so let’s get back to our plan.  More tea please…. Well I guess it’s a few more weeks of getting us to where we thought we were going to be three weeks ago.