Romanians Securing Vital Afghan Highway

The Ledger ^ | March 31, 2007 | DENIS D. GRAY

[lizol]

Romanians Securing Vital Afghan Highway

By DENIS D. GRAY Associated Press Writer

HIGHWAY 1, Afghanistan

The Romanian soldier quietly makes the sign of the cross, then thrusts his rifle through the narrow slit of an armored vehicle as it rolls toward one of the most vital - and dangerous - highways in Afghanistan.

As night falls, machine gunners constantly rotate their turrets and searchlights on the four patrol vehicles and rake the passing countryside for possible ambush sites amid rocky outcrops, mud-brick farm houses and orchards of blossoming almond trees.

The Romanian presence, analyst say, is an example of what must be done to win the war in Afghanistan: convince NATO countries unwilling to put their soldiers in fighting situations that engaging in combat will pave the way for progress.

One of only six NATO nations willing to take on combat operations in the country, the Romanians are tasked with securing a stretch of Highway 1, the strategic and economic lifeline between the capital, Kabul, and the key southern city of Kandahar.

The Taliban were preparing to cut off the highway, isolate and then recapture their one-time stronghold of Kandahar before major NATO pushes blunted their advances late last year. Whether they can regain their momentum this spring is still uncertain.

"Cutting off Highway 1 would be a major information campaign victory for the Taliban. But it is almost impossible," says Maj. Ovidiu Liviu Uifaleanu, commander of the 500-member Romanian unit. "If they attack us, they have a problem."

Taliban insurgents, he says, now largely confine themselves to quick, shoot-and-retreat attacks against the 20 checkpoints manned by Afghan military and police in Zabul province. The Romanians bolster the Afghans with their mobility and firepower, rushing to threatened outposts and otherwise trying to reassure the local population that they can provide security.

"I feel that I am trying to swat a fly with a 40-pound hammer, and only with luck will the fly stay put," Uifaleanu says in fluent English.

"Our last unit in Zabul fell into two or three ambushes. But the Taliban learned. The machine guns we carry can demolish a mud building and anyone standing behind it," says the major, who commands the 812th Infantry Battalion. The unit, known as the "Carpathian Hawks," has seen service in Angola, Iraq and on an earlier Afghanistan tour.

The greater problem now faced by the Romanians appears to be Zabul's inadequate and poorly equipped Afghan National Police.

Normally paid just $70 a month, they haven't seen a paycheck for the past four months due to restructuring of the force. So some of the checkpoints along Zabul's 93-mile stretch of the highway are abandoned, others manned by a handful of policemen, some of whom sleep on the job.

"It's possible," says provincial police chief Gen. Abdull Ghafar, when asked if some of his men accept bribes. "If they don't get a good salary they try to get money from other sources."

Maj. Christopher Clay, who commands the U.S. Army unit in Zabul, says the Taliban and drug traffickers pay off police to pass through checkpoints. "Some attacks are staged by traffickers against police units which refuse to accept the bribes. That's how we can sometimes identify an honest ANP unit - it's the one which gets hit," says the commander of B Company, 4th Infantry Regiment.

Clay, who serves under Uifaleanu within Task Force Zabul, gives the Romanians high marks and some of his officers say they're a more finely honed fighting force than some American units. The Hawks trained with U.S. troops in Romania and Germany before being ordered to Afghanistan three months ago.

Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, joined the United States, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands as one of the member nations willing to engage in combat. The notable "stand asides" among the 37-nation coalition are Italy, Germany, Spain, Turkey and France.

Analysts, offering recommendations on how the war in Afghanistan can be won, say that "national caveats" that prevent the "stand asides" from engaging in combat must be removed so that all NATO members can march to the same tune.

"NATO needs integrated operations with common rules of engagement," Anthony Cordesman, a terrorism expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the U.S. Congress last month. And the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank said in a recent report that "hard questions need to be asked of those who sometimes appear to put force protection, not mission needs, at the fore."

Uifaleanu declines to speak about decisions made in other NATO capitals, but says, "We are keeping our promises as a NATO nation and we are here based on a political decision and taking orders from our higher echelon."

From a coalition base on the edge of Zabul's capital, Qalat, Uifaleanu launches more than 50 missions a week, most centered on Highway 1. It's transformation from a potholed track to an asphalt highway, cutting travel time between Kandahar and Kabul from a full day to about five hours, is hailed as a key achievement in Afghanistan's reconstruction.

The Romanian night patrol covers nearly 60 miles, the last stop a concrete blockhouse manned by a dozen Afghan soldiers along a desolate, lonely stretch of the highway.

A half moon casts an eerie glow over an arid plain and a jagged range of hills from which the insurgents emerge to attack the outpost almost weekly.

Sgt. First Class Gabi Sasalman, a 12-year-veteran of all Romania's overseas missions, points to the distant peaks.

"It's the same danger here as we faced in Iraq," he says.

[lizol]

A Romanian soldier of the 812th Infantry Battalion of the International Security Assistance Force adjust his helmet as he speaks to his colleague before leaving for on patrol in Qalat, in the southern province of Zabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 28, 2007. Among only a half dozen NATO countries willing to take on combat operations in the country, the Romanians are tasked with securing a stretch of Highway 1, the strategic and economic lifeline between the capital Kabul and the key southern city of Kandahar.

[lizol]

Eastern European ping list

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FRmail me to be added or removed from this Eastern European ping list

[marron]

Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, joined the United States, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands as one of the member nations willing to engage in combat. The notable "stand asides" among the 37-nation coalition are Italy, Germany, Spain, Turkey and France.

This is the real Nato. The ones who will not fight are "Nato-in-name-only".

[PAR35]

Turkey

That surprises me. Turkish troops had a good reputation in the Korean War.

[Uncle Miltie]

Thanks to our coalition partners, including but not limited to(from memory)

Romania
Bulgaria
Poland
Britain
Canada
Australia

I promise to return the favor with tourist dollars some day to visit your fair lands.