Badghis' New Governor Takes Tough Stance

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000902

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA
USFOR-A FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PTER AF
SUBJECT: Badghis' New Governor Takes Tough Stance

Ref: Kabul 841


1. (U) Summary. Governor Dilbar Jan Arman, former Zabul governor,
took up his new position as governor of Badghis on March 28. During
his first week in office, Arman met with line ministers, government
employees, tribal elders and other important actors in the province,
including the Regional Command and the Spanish-led Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT). Arman has been forceful in his initial
round of meetings, placing an emphasis on anti-corruption,
anti-insurgency, and anti-narcotics activities. First impressions
of Governor Arman have been positive despite efforts by those loyal
to former Governor Mohammad Ashraf Naseri to discredit him.
Military and civilian elements of the PRT are concerned that
Governor Arman, who is accustomed to the greater resources of a
U.S.-led PRT and maneuver unit, has unrealistic expectations of the
capacities the PRT has available to assist him. An early test of
the governor's skills will be his management of the organizational
and security challenges surrounding the August elections. End
Summary.


2. (U) Governor Arman, a Pashtun from Khost, was appointed governor
of Badghis Province in early March in a governor "swap" with former
Badghis Governor Mohammad Ashraf Naseri. During his first week on
the job, Arman established his agenda with tough talk and clear
priorities. He met with his deputy, line ministers, government
employees, tribal elders, the Spanish-led PRT, and Afghan National
Security Forces (ANSF).


3. (U) Arman has set a no-nonsense tone with local officials in the
course of his meetings. For example, the governor ended a
Provincial Development Council (PDC) meeting after only ten minutes,
when it became obvious line ministers were ill-prepared despite
prior written instructions. The governor said he would never again
tolerate this lack of preparation. Line ministers were stunned as
they left the shortest PDC meeting in recent memory. In a separate
meeting with tribal elders from Taliban-plagued Bala Murghab
district, he told officials and elders that he held them accountable
for their communities, and even went so far as to say that he would
not accept the usual excuse that the Taliban are outsiders over whom
they have no control. Arman warned others that insurgents face
waning days in Badghis Province. The governor emphasized getting
rid of the Taliban and countering its propaganda is not enough, and
that the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA)
must voice its vision for the future of the province in order to
replace Taliban control.


4. (SBU) In addition to his strong message to GIRoA officials, Arman
consistently preached a mantra of inclusion of all residents of the
province in the future of Badghis, not just Pashtuns (as the former
governor had done). His message is sure to threaten some local
officials and power brokers who benefitted from the corrupt
administration of Governor Naseri and are now without a benefactor,
including the deputy governor who is from a different political
party. They may attempt to discredit the governor by circulating
rumors of Arman's alleged corruption in Zabul and the local protests
that spurred his removal. For now, the public seems to be taking a
"wait and see" approach to the governor.


5. (U) The governor pressed GIRoA and Coalition Forces (CF) to
proactively pursue drug traffickers and Taliban rather than merely
react to their operations. During a meeting with tribal elders and
the PRT, he pressed the ANSF and CF to provide more security for the
construction of the Sang-Atesh to Akazai road and the Qadis to
Jawand road, telling them that if workers are attacked, they need to
strike back forcefully. These comments reportedly left PRT
Commander Sarabia speechless. Arman also made it clear that he
intends to offer more direction to the PRT and AECID (Spanish
development agency) on how to spend money in the province.

Comment
--------------


6. (SBU) Arman is off to a positive start, and his stated priority
of fighting endemic corruption in the provincial government could be
a welcome contrast to the former governor. He will need to look
close to home if he seeks to root out corruption - the deputy
governor, several line ministers, the head of the provincial
council, and even the capital's mayor all have alleged links to
corruption in some form. His push for ANSF and CF to clean out
Taliban strongholds in Bala Murghab, Qadis and Moqur districts will
be resisted by some Pashtun leaders at the national and provincial
levels, possibly earning him more enemies in the province. The
governor must watch his traditional allies just as close. He will
have to watch officials from his own Hezb-e Islami party (including
his office director, the Chief Judge, and Mohammad Omer Nezami, a
powerful community leader) who may attempt to abuse political
connections with the governor for their own benefit, which would
taint his tenure. Thus far, his only trusted ally is his 25-year

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old secretary, a man without experience in the province.


7. (SBU) Finally, the governor may not fully appreciate the lesser
capacities of the Spanish-led PRT, compared to the U.S. PRT to which
he was accustomed in Qalat. The Spanish have attempted to reduce
Arman's expectations, telling him their PRT has limited capacity to
provide security and development aid compared to the United States.
The August elections will be an early test of Arman's ability to
manage these competing powers. He will face security and
organizational challenges to make sure they play out without major
incidents.

RICCIARDONE