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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan Army Likely to Fragment After West Quits |
| 2011-01-17 |
| [Tolo News] Chaos within Afghan national army would result into fragmentation of the force after foreign forces pull out. An Afghan military official told TOLOnews on condition of anonymity that foreign troops' presence in Afghanistan is a great requirement to strengthening the county's national army. But Defence Ministry Spokesman dismissing the comments said national army increasingly grows more strength with each day past. The official claimed ethnic composition is considered in recruitment of soldiers but not in appointments for key military positions. "We are really concerned about this issue, because military appointments are done in favour of one ethnicity," the military official said. Presently Afghan army is made of more than 42 percent Pashtuns, more than 40 percent of Tajiks and the rest are from other ethnicities', according to the defence ministry. Gen. Zaher Azimi, Defence Ministry Spokesperson, highlighted that at first competence and merit is considered in appointments in the ministry and ethnic balance comes second. "We try to keep a balance in the army. First of all we consider professional skills and capabilities and secondly ethnic aspects are considered," said Gen Azimi. The bigwig warned that Afghan army will be hit with a flood of challenges after foreign forces leave the country. "It is impossible to compare last year with this year, because our capacities are raised to the point that we are ready for security transition. The speculations that the army will go into parts by 2014 are baseless," Gen. Azimi added. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 IIUC the Vietnamese have a better understanding of themselves as a people and culture than the concept and peoples in Afghanistan. Need at least 8 years of mostly successful centalized government which gets the people excited about the concept of the nation Afghanistan. Likely longer considering location & geography, people within, and neighbors. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-01-17 17:57 |
| #6 Actually the best outcome would be an airplane 'accident' that takes out Karzai and his cabinet, allowing the Northern Alliance to step into the power void and elect Dostum as President. End of kid glove treatments on Taliban and their supporters, and a very large segment of the Pashtuns go bye-bye under President Dostum. Oh, and for those who forget history, Afghanistan is not a country, it is a geographic location that is used by the rest of Asia as the holding pen for the least civilized of the tribes in their area. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2011-01-17 16:52 |
| #5 On the plus side, remembering well the lesson of Vietnam, where a US trained force held off against a far superior enemy for two years after we left, after abandonment by the Democrats; and then how the US military was very determined to not let the same thing happen in Iraq, and it didn't. So the bottom line is how well the US military is working with the Afghans. Certainly not as intensively as with the Iraqis, who had a lot more to work with. Since Karzai and his crew are pretty worthless, perhaps the best outcome will be for the military to take over after we leave. That, more than anything else, would probably be the best outcome to prevent the rise of any Taliban movement. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-01-17 15:00 |
| #4 Ah nation building... is there anything it can't do? |
| Posted by: regular joe 2011-01-17 09:35 |
| #3 Once Western government money dries up, the elements of the Army will become mercenaries for the drug lords with the best pay and benefits - or they'll publicly acknowledge their alliegence to the Taliban. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2011-01-17 07:50 |
| #2 Afghan Army Likely to Fragment After West There, fully repaired, |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-01-17 03:56 |
| #1 Surprise, surprise. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-01-17 02:37 |