NEW ENERGY FOR AFGHANISTAN

It was a convoy of 4,000 coalition troops guarded by dozens of attack helicopters and fighter jets, winding through the most violent province in Afghanistan. An assault on the stronghold of Osama bin Laden?

Well, yes, actually. But not exactly a military assault.

As chronicled in innumerable accounts of Afghanistan before and since September 11, 2001, the nation outside the capital city of Kabul was and remains little more than a region of co-existing tribes. Outside forces have never had difficulty occupying and controlling Kabul. The tribal regions, on the other hand, have never really been brought under any government’s control.

If western nations are to subdue existing terrorists and prevent the evolution of future terrorists, it will only be when the tribes want to cooperate in the effort.

So delivery and installation of a turbine, part of the 51-megawatt Kajaki Dam hydroelectric power project that will serve tribal peoples in the remote and violent Helmand Province, might well be considered a frontal assault on bin Laden and his ilk in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

The Helmand Province dam was built in the 1950s for irrigation. The U.S. installed 2power-generating turbines in the 1970s but one has not been functioning. Under the supervision of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the 2 existing turbines were renovated and the new one carted in by coalition forces and added at a cost of $51 million.

Emissions-free hydroelectric power provides the U.S. with 7% of its electricity. This one project could provide some 6% of Afghanistan's power needs.

A $77 million transmission project will now be needed in the opium poppy-growing region retaken in the last 2 years by Taliban insurgents in order to deliver the new, increased power to Kandahar and to Lashkar Gah, Helmand province’s capital.

The mission was conceived as a demonstration of the NATO/Afghan government commitment to reconstruction. It also gave the coalition the opportunity to demonstrate military superiority.

Maj. Gen. J. G. M. Lessard, commander, NATO troops in southern Afghanistan: "Despite the disruptive effort from the insurgents, we achieved our goal and delivered the new turbine…The insurgents efforts have not been successful. They will not win and are not winning in the southern region."

It is possible the dam project’s New Energy will produce a very different kind of shock and awe to generate in the tribal regions a thousand points of light and illuminate a different set of options for the people of the region and the men with guns all around them.

Kajaki Dam. (from Wikipedia - click to enlarge)

Big turbine delivered to Afghan aid project
Jason Straziuso, September 3, 2008 (AP via Yahoo News)

WHO
NATO Coalition Forces in Afghanistan; Taliban; Maj. Gen. J. G. M. Lessard, commander, NATO troops in southern Afghanistan; U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

WHAT
Coalition forces delivered a turbine for a U.S.-funded dam project to a remote region in the most violent province in Afghanistan.

Inside the Kajaki Dam power plant.(from the NY Times - click to enlarge)

WHEN
- The delivery of the turbine by the convoy took a week. The mission was completed September 2.
- Kajaki Dam was built in the 1950s.
- In the last 2 years, the opium poppy-growing region has been retaken by the Taliban.

WHERE
- Coalition forces escorted the turbine 110 miles from Kandahar city to the southwest Afghanistan site of the Kajaki Dam project in adjacent Helmand province. Much of the traversed terrain is considered Taliban-held territory.
- British, U.S., Canadian, Danish, Australian and Afghanistan troops participated in the convoy.

WHY
- The dam project’s 51 megawatts represents 6+% of Afghanistan's 770-megawatt total power requirement, about the same as the power used by Burlington, Vermont.
- Helmand province is considered the most violent region in the country.
- Kajaki Dam is the biggest USAID project in Afghanistan.
- The convoy delivering the turbine dodged insurgent attacks while crossing rugged desert terrain riddled with mines.
- The convoy was made up of 4,000 troops. 200 insurgents were killed during the journey. There were no coalition force deaths but a British soldier has his pelvis crushed while repairing a vehicle.

Helmand Province. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
Statement, International Security Assistance Force, NATO: "The result of the operation will be a much needed increase in capacity to generate electrical power, which will create a better quality of life for Afghan people in southern Afghanistan…"