PCR Project Co-Director Rick Barton interviewed on Radio KCBS

Flikr photo by Army.mil used under a Creative Commons license.  Yesterday Rick Barton was interviewed on Radio KCBS to discuss U.S. presence and strategy in Afghanistan under President Obama.  The interview focused on Afghan perceptions of the U.S. and the Taliban – in what remains a struggle for the hearts and minds of Afghans across the countryside.  When asked about the potential contribution of additional troops, Barton noted that making people feel safe should be part of the strategy.  While the Taliban does possess some charismatic leadership, Barton emphasized that they are the default enforcers of authority and intimidators, who operate in the absence of alternative leadership.  Improving U.S. presence on the ground may be one important step towards a more secure Afghanistan in this respect.  Another strategy for revitalizing U.S. engagement, according to Barton, is improving a regional approach to deal with the problematic border with Pakistan:

The border is long and it is brutal geography and it is really the mountainous nature of the land that is our number one enemy. We just don’t have many people, so the best thing we can really do is have a regional approach that includes huge cooperation from the Pakistanis, and ultimately the Indians, Chinese, [and] the Iranians as well, because if you don’t take on these people movements on a regional basis there is no way you can really secure these borders.