I’ve argued on this blog (here) that it is essential
for the US military to have many of our soldiers in Afghanistan fluent in
Pashto for the US to have any chance of being successful there, whatever that
means. So, I note with interest the following sentence in Elisabeth Bumiller’s
NY Times article “With Boots in Iraq, Minds Drift to Afghanistan” (here):
At Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Marines are offering a new
yearlong crash course in Pashto, Dari and Urdu, languages spoken in Afghanistan.
Now, this is good, better than nothing, but there are no
number details. Just how many are taking these crash courses, and who are they?
I’m guessing not enough.
If the US military wants to conduct successful counter
insurgency operations in Afghanistan it should recognize (1) that it will take
a long time, maybe ten to fifteen years, to be successful; (2) that, with a
professional army, we can develop rotations that send the same experienced
troops back to Afghanistan for repeated tours; (3) that those rotating into Afghanistan
should be fluent in one of the Afghan languages and rotate in and out of areas
that speaks that language; and (4) that part of their state side rotations
should be spent on Afghan language training.
There is also a broader issue relating to success in
Afghanistan, one that steps outside the military. The US educational system
should play a role in developing these Afghan language skills. I don’t think
school districts will find it possible to have immersion courses in Pashto,
Dari, or Urdu. Maybe, high school courses in Urdu (but probably not). But
school districts could support online, correspondence or the use of software
like Rosetta Stone for high school students to study Afghan languages while in
district. Both the school districts and the federal government could support
intensive summer courses. And, of course, states and school districts could
implement my Go Global High School Study Abroad Program (here), and pay for
high school students to study abroad learning Afghan languages (wherever it is
safe for them to be). The study abroad programs need not cost any additional
local, state, or federal dollars.
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