“Shoulder to Shoulder” with the Afghan Legal System – DoD Roundtable

Why is the Lieutenant’s story important to us? Because he did all of those things! He is why we are in Afghanistan and an example of a hero that can be used to explain to others exactly why we should oppose autocracy worldwide! But I get ahead of Col Rousseau’s story to the Roundtable!

Think of a country controlled in the past by the Taliban, communists, the Soviets, the tribal leaders and many others! Imagine the legal systems involved! Think of land ownership disputes! Try to get Title Insurance on that house! Or ask the county administrators for a land plat to determine who owns what! Take the next step and put yourself in the Afghan Army! Now you are an American legal officer giving advice to the development of the Rule of Law within the Afghan Army and the National Police! Head spinning a bit? That is Col Rousseau’s job with his staff of JAGs and legal advisors. He has three divisions that deal with specific issues including the legal systems for the National Police and Afghan Army.

They have stood up a national legal school for Army officers and are completing about 300 courts-martial a year! Rousseau said they had a developing system similar to the UCMJ. It has been successful but they were challenged when it came to senior officers (Colonels and above) which take political will to prosecute! They are “building the foundation” and the system is not perfect but developing. They are improving and adding significant numbers of judicial security officers and meeting the challenges of unlawful command influence head on! During one recent legal conference an Afghan general said they just had to do what is right! Getting that mindset to be the standard is the challenge!

They have added women in the legal offices as more women are recruited for the Army and police service as well! The colonel said they deal with family issues and abuse problems. He said they are crawling in this area but going to the walking phase. He has not seen any stigma or delays to continued growth in this area of the rule of law. The State Department is bringing in a special Ambassador this summer to deal with the entire Afghan rule of law issues. He is expecting a joint task force of multiple countries, government agencies, civilian and military, Non Governmental Organizations, etc to participate! Despite the challenges of so many folks being involved the colonel seemed excited to see progress in Afghanistan’s Rule of Law! Why? Let’s go back to the Lieutenant’s story!