Promoting peace in Afghanistan – with a lighter touch

"Until we really have an impact here, in terms of healthcare, education, etc., Afghans will continue to suffer – and be amenable to ideological pressures of Al Qaeda," says Mr. Perez, a submarine officer. We need to give them a reason to be on our side."

Perez and others reject the argument that soldiers should stick to what they know best – fighting. "What does winning mean?" asks Col. Skip Davis, top strategic adviser to Gen. David McKiernan, who commands the approximately 70,000 US and coalition troops in Afghanistan. "Like in Iraq, our strategy must involve both fighting and building. We need to stay the course and be responsible for both."

Scarcity of just about everything

Nuristan, arguably the least developed province in Afghanistan, is home to the newest PRT, established two years ago. Electricity is scarce here, phone lines and hospitals nonexistent, and infant mortality is the highest in the country, with 1 in 4 children dying before age 5. Only a handful of roads are paved, and literacy is estimated at 25 percent (9 percent for women) – below the national average.

Barge Matal, set in the stark, snowcapped mountains of the Hindu Kush, is as far northeast as the PRT ventures. Monthly visits here need to be planned meticulously, requiring an airlift of the PRT and tight security. Insurgents regularly attempt to attack.

The Nuristan PRT has completed 31 projects at a cost of $12 million, and has contracted more than $60 million in roads. But little of that has reached Barge Matal.

Today, the plan is to offer a health clinic and meet with the shura, or council of elders, to determine priorities.

The heavily armed team arrives in Barge Matal on two helicopters in the early morning and immediately bumps into the shura – headed out of town. The elders, explains Mohammad Rasul, Barge Matal's deputy subgovernor – wrapped in a blanket, a wool hat pulled down snugly – are visiting a nearby village. They will be back in an hour. "No problem," says Perez, respectfully taking off his helmet.

As the medics set up a clinic, the State Department representatives head off with minipatrols, to find out how voter registration is proceeding. Some PRT members hand out hats and gloves to the kids.

Perez wanders into a local shop. "What's new?" he asks, striking up a friendly chat – through his interpreter – "anything exciting?"

The price of sugar is up, he learns. Sunflower oil is selling well. Roads are insecure. The Taliban are close by. And the Americans need to bring more hope.

Perez buys two cartons of strawberry wafers and candy and passes the time handing them out to a group of ragged boys, trying to get them to say thank you. "Tashukur, tashukur," they begin yelling. "Thank you." Clusters of men with dyed red beards and turbans observe the scene, glancing sidelong at the PRT's security men, stationed up and down the muddy paths and atop the wooden compounds.

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