For NATO’s political leaders and top military brass, the pledge to grow the Afghan military is always a safe default. Indeed, the Afghan military is already so large that the Afghan government could never hope to pay for it, and plans are in place to dramatically increase its size.
But for the troops on the ground, distrust of their Afghan “allies” is so great that when trouble breaks out they aren’t sure if they should train their guns on the Taliban or the Afghan Army.
It isn’t just an overreaction to those occasions when Taliban have infiltrated the security forces and killed NATO troops. It isn’t even the fact that so many of the Afghan troops are raw recruits with almost no training, most of whom will be gone after a few paychecks.
The corruption in the Afghan government is well known, but less often discussed is how deeply it extends into these enormous security forces being bankrolled by the US and its allies. The raw recruits may be incompetent, but many of the commanders only got where they are through overt bribery, and then only on the assumption that they can steal and coerce enough to make a profit on the deal. In short the Afghan security force is a wreck from top to bottom, and are so unpredictable that any plan, short or long term, dependent on them seems doomed to fail.
The picture reminds me of something out of Monty Python
"The raw recruits may be incompetent".
Not really, especially compared to the US suburbs.
"The raw recruits may be incompetent".
Not really, especially compared to the US suburbs.
"I don't know what effect they will have upon the enemy, but by God, they frighten me."
Duke of Wellington
On the surface, and in the light of US PR, it looks as if the US and McChrystal and the rest have all the cards, and Karzai has none.
Look more closely.
Consider again Karzai's negotiations with HIS fellow tribesmen (not the US' or McChrsytal's).
Then add the trips to Iran and China.
Is the US military really stupid enough to send tens of thousands of US and NATO troops into Kandahar?
Is it a distraction and actually a move against Iran?
Stay tuned.
Get after it Uncle Sam! After you've "trained" these "loyal" standard bearers of empire just watch as they, as before, turn and gun you down. Nothing like having to forge your own enemies but this nation has done it time and again.
The unreliability of Afghan forces is not any different from that of privatized armies of the west, a trend advanced mightily during the late Clinton and W. Bush years. The only difference is one of pay grade.