The US Army has been conducting “religious engagement conferences” to shore up support as the military conducts “turnover of responsibility” actions in Afghanistan.

“In this part of Afghanistan, culture is religion and religion is culture,” said Dauod Parwani, the RCT-5 cultural advisor. “The two concepts are inseparable, and unless you are speaking in the language of religion, no one will listen to you.”

The meetings involve not only US military leaders, but also US military chaplains — once again proving their mettle not only as supporters of the religious freedom of US troops, but also as instrumental to the strategic objectives of the US effort.

In fact, Chaplain (Cmdr) Mark Winward quotes Navy Chaplain (Capt) Paul Wrigley saying US military commanders ignore the importance of religion in military operations at their own peril:

“An operational commander, however Read more