Shirzai's government holds regular meetings with a team of U.S. Army civil
affairs officers at the governor's palace. One of them, Maj. Michael
Blankenship, who shared a warm greeting with Shirzai at the governor's party,
described the U.S. role as one of offering assistance but not determining
outcomes.
"We're not here to nation-build," Blankenship said. "We're here to set the
cornerstone for others to build on."
Shirzai has a reputation for wielding power with more discretion than less
subtle Afghan faction leaders, such as the reputedly brutal Northern Alliance
general Abdul Rashid Dostum. At least once, Shirzai is said to have persuaded
U.S. officials to hand over suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters to his
regional army, who reportedly used more aggressive tactics to wrest intelligence
from the detainees within days.
To get to Sunday's party, the American and Canadian soldiers had only to walk a
few hundred yards outside the concertina wire of the U.S.-held Kandahar airport
to the walled compound of Razik Shirzai, the governor's brother.
Eid celebrants often don new clothes for the occasion. Razik Shirzai chose the
desert camouflage uniform worn by the Americans, adding an Afghan flag stitched
over the left breast pocket, and shiny black U.S. Special Forces boots that had
seen little contact with the inescapable Kandahar dust. He escorted the base
VIPs to a receiving line of southern Afghan dignitaries.
Sitting to the governor's right were Ahmed Karzai, a local official and brother
of the interim prime minister, and Khalid Pushtoon, a spokesman for the
provincial government. To his left were Shirzai's security officials, in white
navy-style jackets with gold epaulets. Directly at his side, wearing civilian
clothes and a black baseball cap, was the bearded American colonel in charge of
Special Forces troops at the base; military officials asked that he not be
identified by name.
The close relationship between Afghan leaders and U.S. special operations teams
is an open secret, but the details of the cooperation are closely guarded, at
least in part out of the Afghans' concern for the safety of their benefactors.
Yet the significance of the relationship was clear by the seat of honor the
colonel was given, along with the presence of several long-haired, unshaven
Americans in a mix of civilian and camouflage garb. U.S. leaders expressed
concern for the safety of the colonel after he was identified in a U.S. news
report this week. One Afghan leader complained that U.S. officials had
inappropriately allowed a journalist to attend the celebration.
For the Afghans inside the brightly colored tent, it was the first time in years
that they had heard a robab, an Afghan stringed instrument.
Waiters passed out trays of pistachios, walnuts, sweet raisins and almonds to
whet the appetites of soldiers accustomed to military rations. The Afghans
waited as hundreds of troops crowded the long table to fill their plates with
chicken kebabs, oranges and soft drinks.
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