Afghan Police: Adding US Troops Won’t Solve Anything

Escalation Will Raise Perception of US as Occupying Power

by Jason Ditz, September 21, 2009

Responding to today’s released assessment of the Afghan War by top US commander General Stanley McChrystal, Afghan police are cautioning that McChrystal’s strategy of adding yet more troops to the conflict won’t solve anything.

As one police general noted “it is very hard for local people to accept any foreigners who come to our country and say they are fighting for our freedom,” adding that the addition of yet more troops would make it even harder to fight the perception that those troops are occupiers.

Indeed, General McChrystal, who is seeking another 45,000 troops and cautioning that the war won’t be winnable if he doesn’t get them soon, may soon have a force even larger than the Soviet occupation force which roamed Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The police seem to be siding with some top Democratic Senators, who argue that instead of escalating the ground force in the nation the US should throw more money at the large, but poorly trained security forces.

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