383 Felipe Santos Rodríguez Strategic communication in modern conflicts : Afganistan These teams are composed of military and civilian personnel, between 50 and 300 forces, a great majority of which are military (somewhere between 70 and 85 percent) and the rest political consultants and development experts. The belief of the credibility that the civilian population has of its authorities is critical to the success of the mission: “to assist the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in extending its authority in order to facilitate the development of a stable and secure environment in its area of operations, and to enable the reform of the security forces, SSR (Security Sector Reform), as well as the reconstruction efforts “.62 NATO took over the command of all PRTs in 2006. Of these 12 implemented American PRTs that were evolving so that each had a shared civil-military command and in Iraq there are U.S. PRTs under civilian rule. The Spanish PRT in Badghis is integrated by a contingency commanded by a Colonel, a Battalion that is used for strictly maneuvering military operations, a team responsible for training the new Afghan army and a diverse workforce for support purposes in areas such as: (air detachment, engineering, health, etc.). The military part CDS (Chief of the Defense Staff) deals with security, reintegrating the insurgents who surrender their arms as well as operation support to the population. Within these operations are included the IO (Information Operations) and liaison with local and Afghan authorities. Its main objective is “winning over the population” by demonstrable resources like: organizing assemblies, solving problems that affect the daily lives of the locals through surveys, they also regularly monitor the public support of the actions performed by the contingents. For the high command, to maintain the support of the population has become the biggest challenge of the mission. The difficulties encountered are, in this order, the extreme weakness of the Afghan nation and the widespread corruption, which constantly threatens the credibility of a government that has the aspiration to gain control of the country within a reasonable period of time.63 4. Towards a definition of strategic communication 62 NATO ISAF PRT Handbook en JAKOBSEN, P. V. NATO’s Comprehensive Approach to Crisis Response Operations. A Work in Slow Progress. Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS Report, 2008, p. 24. 63 SIERRA, M. “El Equipo de Reconstrucción Provincial de Bagdhis (Afganistán)”, conferencia impartida en la jornada, La nueva estrategia en Afganistán: la importancia del factor cultural y de las relaciones con la población local. Centro Internacional de Toledo para la Paz (CITpax), Instituto Uni-versitario General Gutiérrez Mellado, 2 de julio de 2010.
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