UK Commander: NATO Struggling to Deal With Afghan Green-on-Blue Attacks

Promises New 'Psychological Tests' to Root Out Taliban

Just one day after two British soldiers were slain by an Afghan policeman in the latest “green-on-blue” attack, the top British commander for troops in Afghanistan sought to defend the alliance’s inability to take care of the situation in parliament.

“It is difficult to deal with, but we are all determined to get to grips with this,” insisted Lt. Gen. David Capewell, who also told parliament that British troops will remain in Afghanistan in “some form” after 2014.

“You can never have a perfect system,” Capewell told parliament, but insisted that new vetting, including “psychological tests” were being implemented in an attempt to get a handle on the attacks, which are happening at record pace this year.

British Ambassador to NATO Dame Mariot Leslie added that there was now an agreement “in principle” to keep NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014 “withdrawal date.” Capewell said that an addition 500 troops may be deployed just to try to transfer British military equipment out of Afghanistan.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.