Inside The Afghan "Civilian Surge"

Inside The Afghan "Civilian Surge"

As politicians and military officers alike continue to call for a 'civilian surge' in Afghanistan, Aram Roston reports from Wardak province on the improvised attempts at order that are filling the gap.

In October, as American forces launched a new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, I scrambled behind a 37-year old civilian "political adviser" named Matthew Sherman up into the backside of a Chinook helicopter. Before we took off from Forward Operating Base Shank, in troubled Logar province, Sherman leaned back against the webbing and buckled himself in, carefully adjusting his earplugs to protect against the deafening roar of the twin turbo engines.

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