Afghan army expanion prospects suspect

NY Times:

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“The most significant challenge to rapidly expanding the Afghan National Security Forces is a lack of competent and professional leadership at all levels, and the inability to generate it rapidly,” concluded one of the reviews, a grim assessment forwarded to Washington in September from the American-led training headquarters.

Another September report, the Pentagon inspector general’s annual review of the training program, warned that any acceleration “will face major challenges. ”

A third assessment, a quarterly report sent to Congress last week, revealed that despite the formation of new army battalions, fewer of them were capable of operating independently. One reason may be that the Afghan Army’s jerry-built logistics system, a relic of the Soviet era and one of the training program’s orphans, has become a drag on the combat forces.

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Among other problems, one of the reports found, the United States military’s training headquarters simply does not have enough people to do all it is already being asked to do, a flaw that “has delayed and will continue to delay” building the Afghan forces and that unless corrected would only prolong the American presence in Afghanistan.

Construction is also falling behind, leaving recruits living in tents and making a boom in barracks-building problematic, since there are not yet enough qualified engineers. And attempts to draw Afghan businesses into the war effort have backfired. One local start-up company assigned to do basic weapons maintenance for the Afghan Army tried to use hammers and nails to hold grenade launchers together and ultimately had to be trained by an American contractor.

The Americans are sometimes stymied by delays in training that sprout unexpectedly from profound cultural differences. Costly delays in the building of barracks for new recruits, for example, are a result not just of scarce labor and materials, but also of time-consuming repairs of damage that occurs as soon as the troops move into their new quarters. Afghan soldiers reportedly ripped sinks from barrack walls and used them to wash their feet before praying, an important custom. They also built fires on barrack floors for heating and cooking, even in buildings with furnaces and kitchens, according to the reports.

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There are also character issues with some of those who have been trained. Anecdotal reports suggest that many cut and run when under attack. Some are Taliban infiltrators. Yet, some units have performed well. These are usually the elites who work closely with special forces troops. Solving the training problem will certainly be a high priority and will take more troops from the US.