US ‘Troop Targets’ May Force Conscription on Afghanistan

Afghan Defense Ministry Drawing Up Plans to Draft Thousands

by Jason Ditz, September 25, 2009

Citing targets imposed on the nation by the United States, the Afghan Defense Ministry reports that it is now drawing up a plan to impose conscription on the war torn nation as a way of meeting the US requirements.

Already nearly 100,000 strong, the US is continually pressing Afghanistan to dramatically increase its military’s size, and is now hoping they will eventually have 240,000, an enormous number for the impoverished nation.

But even though jobs are tough to come by in Afghanistan, many of its residents aren’t exactly enamoured with the idea of joining the poorly-trained military of an increasingly weakened government facing an ever escalating war against a powerful insurgency. Fortunately for the Afghan government, their post-occupation constitution gives them the authority to draft people to fill their military shortfalls.

US General McChrystal says it is important to avoid the appearance of being an occupation force, but with his policy edicts essentially poised to force tens if not hundreds of thousands of Afghans into forced combat fighting a war on the behalf of the US it seems impossible to see it any other way.

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