Military Review English Edition May-June 2014 | Page 75
INSIGHT
push into the deeper valleys of Korengal, Weygal,
or Nuristan proper. The Nuristanis maintained
their de facto independence in return for religious
subjugation and recognizing the Pashtun king as
their sovereign. This system of swearing fealty to
the conquering emir in return for local autonomy is
similar to the medieval European feudal system. As
long as the taxes were paid, loyalty was sworn, and
troops provided when needed, the local tribes were
allowed relative autonomy. This ancient system of
governance continues to this day within the Talibanrun parallel government of the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan. This tribal system of governance
derives its legitimacy from its sheer longevity in
central Asia, where the people have known it since
before the Persian conquest in the 5th century BC.
The Nuristani valley tribes are still ruled by an
informal gathering of local elders. This system of
governance enjoys the full support of the Nuristani
peoples, who have resisted all other forms of government. The elders comprise the true legitimate
government of Nuristan, using a rudimentary form
of democracy through a system of shuras (referring
to an approach to decision making involving a consultative council) to build valley-wide consensus.
The corrupt officials of Karzai’s government never
achieved legitimacy in this region. Their insistence
on halting the native logging trade in the name of
nature conservation is a direct affront to the traditional Nuristani way of living.7 To the Nuristanis,
unaccustomed to government meddling in their
internal affairs, the Afghan officials’ attempt at halting their native economy while building roads and
police stations with an overt U.S. presence appeared
to be an invasion by corrupt proxies of the West.
The settlement pattern of the Pashay Pashtuns in
the Kunar Valley leading into the Pech Valley is
the historic outline, or the high water mark, of the
Pashtun conquest of the Nuristanis. It also marks the
furthest extent of the control and governance by the
Pashtun-dominated leadership of the government
of Afghanistan. This crucial fact has been glossed
over during the past 10 years of war in Afghanistan.
Defensive valley civilization of Nuristan. Due
to the lack of Nuristani historiography, we have
to speculate as to how they conducted their wars
of resistance against past invaders. However, their
culture bears the scars of centuries of defensive
warfare. People throughout the world prefer to live
MILITARY REVIEW
May-June 2014
in the most naturally comfortable locations that support their lifestyles. This means they build houses in
locations that provide easy access to transportation
and water. This explains the prevalence of cities and
towns around the world near coastlines or by rivers,
usually on a plain or a small patch of flat land. People
generally do not like to live on steep slopes or on
high ground away from their water source or farms.
Walking from a house built on a steep slope down to
the river to draw water every morning is a very tiring
act, unnatural to most people in the world.
The typical layout of towns and villages in the
Korengal and Weygal valleys demonstrates an
unnatural pattern of settlement. While the sparse
farm plots of the Nuristanis remain on the small
valley floor, their houses are built in crowded formations along the steep hillsides. These multistory
houses are built with stones, with small windows
facing the valley floor. This uncommon style of
settlement is traditional to the Nuristanis. The Pashay
Pashtuns of Pech and lower Kunar live on the valley
floor, using traditional mud bricks for their houses
(see figure 2).
The most likely explanation for this type of village
design is that the Nuristanis built their houses on
steep hillsides to defend themselves against invaders
who traveled up the valley floors to try to conquer
them. The design of the villages is the culmination
of the Nuristani tribes’ two millennia of generally
successful defense of their culture and their way of
life (see figure 3).
The villages of Korengal and Aranas show an
advanced defensive design allowing nearly all houses
of a village to provide suppressive fire on the single
narrow chokepoint that leads into the main valley.
One can easily imagine the villages adopting this
defensive formation over time in place of the more
comfortable formation that would have placed the
houses near the valley floors. The Nuristanis are
de facto independent tribal nations, each ruled by a
council of elders; their fortified towns have helped
the tribes protect their autonomy for millennia.
COIN or Invasion?
U.S. COIN doctrine assumes that forces are
supporting a legitimate government, however
basic, with the aim of increasing its legitimacy,
influence, and strength. It identifies the “people”
as the center of gravity, whose support the U.S.
73