An Afghan Awakening?

Dexter Filkins reports on U.S. efforts to aid some Afghan tribes who have turned against the Taliban:

American and Afghan officials have begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias that have independently taken up arms against insurgents in several parts of Afghanistan, prompting hopes of a large-scale tribal rebellion against the Taliban.

The emergence of the militias, which took some leaders in Kabul by surprise, has so encouraged the American and Afghan officials that they are planning to spur the growth of similar armed groups across the Taliban heartland in the southern and eastern parts of the country.

The American and Afghan officials say they are hoping the plan, called the Community Defense Initiative, will bring together thousands of gunmen to protect their neighborhoods from Taliban insurgents. Already there are hundreds of Afghans who are acting on their own against the Taliban, officials say.

I know several Afghan experts were wary about an "arm the tribes" strategy. But if the tribes, which Filkins says are already well armed, want to turn their guns on the Taliban, it seems smart to give them some ammo.

(AP Photos)