Security cooperation pays off: a lesson from the Afghan war

DISAM Journal, Spring, 2002 by Joel E. Williamson, Dr. Jennifer D.P. Moroney

[The following is a reprint from the DFI Government Practice, Inc., publication, web site publications @dfi-intl.com. We wish to thank DFI for allowing us to reprint this article.]

One of the essential lessons of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan is the importance of regional access for U.S. military forces. To the surprise of many around the world, the U.S. was able to gain a ring of access for its forces in countries either not regarded as openly friendly or where relations with the U.S. had been strained.

What is not as well known is that the Department of Defense (DoD) already had a foot in the door to most of these countries in Central and South Asia. The U.S. defense officials had developed special relationships and U.S. forces were eminently familiar with both the personnel and facilities in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan due to a series of bilateral and multilateral exercises and consultative talks held every year in the region sing 1996. These security engagement activities laid the groundwork for prompt access to key local political and military leaders for temporary bases in the region necessary to support Enduring Freedom. In fact, U.S. security cooperation programs in Central Asia have not only facilitated the alignment of these countries with the U.S. war against terrorism, but have also contributed to the probable establishment of a longer-term U.S. military presence whether permanent or rotational on their territories.

A significant lesson from Afghanistan is that the U.S. cannot necessarily identify where it will be engaged militarily in the future. A year ago, few officials and analysts would have predicted that the U.S. would intervene on a large scale in a country that previously ranked far down the list of U.S. national interests. Although U.S. security engagement programs were not motivated by preparations for Enduring Freedom, they nevertheless proved to be invaluable.

The success of the Central Asian ring of access argues that the Department of Defense should continue to employ and expand its subtle and inexpensive peacetime security cooperation programs on a global scale. Since we cannot accurately guess which failed or failing state will be the next Afghanistan, a global approach is needed that hedges America's bets by preparing for access potentially anywhere. Costing relatively little, security cooperation activities can have a huge impact. In addition to facilitating U.S. operational access to personnel, facilities, and intelligence in these countries, security cooperation activities contribute to building coalitions, augmenting U.S. warfighting effectiveness, promoting military capabilities in partner countries, encouraging adoption of Western international norms, and generating sustained interaction between U.S. and partner country forces.

U.S. Security Engagement's Contrbution to Operation Enduring Freedom

U.S. security cooperation programs such as the Warsaw Initiative and the defense and military contacts of the cooperative threat reduction program have played a vital role in securing U.S. operational access for operation Enduring Freedom.

The cooperative threat reduction which funds many of DoD's peacetime military activities with the countries of the former Soviet Union has provided DoD with direct access to various levels of military and political decision-makers in Central Asia. It has also facilitated the building of strong professional and personal relationships between U.S. officials and their counterparts in these countries, in some cases for little more than the cost of travel.

Similarly, the Warsaw Initiative program for Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union has assisted in the training and development of military capabilities in Central Asian states. Warsaw Initiative activities include English language training funded through the international military education and training (IMET) program, as well as non-lethal training and equipment transfers through foreign military financing (FMF).

Because the militaries of Central Asia are predominantly composed of ground troops, the focus of cooperative threat reduction and the Warsaw Initiative in this region have been on land forces, with the U.S. Army and special forces taking the lead. In recent years, an active exercise schedule has been completed with the bilateral Balance exercise series, which rotates between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan two to four times per year. A multilateral exercise series, Centrasbat/Regional Cooperation, involves these same three countries. Particularly in Uzbekistan, these exercises have proven invaluable for helping the Tashkent government to counter security threats such as the terrorist Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), as well as establishing and fostering close working relationships between the U.S. and Uzbek militaries. In addition, Kyrgyzstan, which shares a strategically important border with China, has given the U.S. a green light to build a new air force base on its territory at Manas.