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Afghan official: US target for Afghan army too low
A top Afghan military official said Tuesday that a key part of President Barack Obama's new war plan accelerating the training of Afghan soldiers does not go far enough to meet the country's defense needs.Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the new head of a U.S.-NATO command responsible for training and developing Afghan soldiers and police, said Tuesday that although the groundwork is being laid to expand the Afghan National Army beyond the current target of 134,000 troops by Oct. 31, 2010, no fixed higher target has been set. There is a notional goal of eventually fielding 240,000 soldiers and 160,000 police, but Caldwell said that could change. "Although that is a goal and where we think it could eventually go to, it's not a hard, firm, fixed number," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. For now, Caldwell's orders are to reach the targets of 134,000 soldiers and 96,800 police by next October. Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, operational commander of Afghanistan's defense ministry, said a 134,000-member Afghan National Army is shy of what is needed. "The 134,000 army, which has been approved so far, it is not enough for our country," he said. "We have requested to increase that number to at least 240,000." He said even during the 1970s, during the reign of King Mohammad Zahir, the ranks of the Afghan army didn't fall below 200,000 and the target was for 250,000 troops. "Then, everywhere was peace. There was no fighting," he said. "Today, with Taliban militants and international terrorists, we even need more troops than during the king's time." Posted by: ed 2009-12-01 |
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