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2009-09-21 Afghanistan

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-09-21 14:25|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Sounds an awful lot like the ARVN, (with man-boy love added).

Posted by Frozen Al 2009-09-21 15:32|| 2009-09-21 15:32|| Front Page Top

#2 Why is it that Afghan Taliban fighters seem so bold and effective, while the Afghan National Police are so dismally corrupt and the Afghan National Army a washout?

Because Afghanistan is overwhemingly a clan and tribal society. You fight for your uncle, cousins, a related clan.

The Uzbecks seem to have progressed somewhat beyond this to an ethnic allegiance.

Posted by phil_b 2009-09-21 16:15|| 2009-09-21 16:15|| Front Page Top

#3 Interesting article, even with the "Mother Jones" bias (the obligatory bits about corporate greed, sensitive M16, the description of the hulking, over-equipped US grunt,...),... wouldn't trust most RBers to partake the writer's worldview, but I'd believe he's highlighting a real problem re the ANA, and, beyond that, the effort to "prop up" afghanistan.

Posted by anonymous5089 2009-09-21 16:30|| 2009-09-21 16:30|| Front Page Top

#4 No surprises there. It will take at least a generation to build the new army culture, and the same for the police, once the country is generally pacified, because until then the police will function as much as the core of community defence against roving bands of Taliban-bandits as they do at solving crime and catching criminals, even Rab-style. But we have to start somewhere. The native Afghan officer corps that recently started graduating from East Point will make a difference over time. At this stage the enlisted men see no possibility of becoming soldiers like the Americans, but when they see Afghans legitimately commanding and expecting them to perform up to the standard the Afghan officers have achieved, that attitude should start to change.

Bottom line, it is not realistic for the American journalist to expect that kind of leap, especially amongst the rawest of recruits that he observed, in such a short period of time. Nor is it realistic to expect the Afghans will be able to operate independently for at least several decades, no matter how much easier it would make our lives.

Posted by trailing wife 2009-09-21 17:57|| 2009-09-21 17:57|| Front Page Top

#5 Agree with everything TW says and would only highlight what is implicit in her comments: when embarking on a 40 year project it is counterproductive to look for quick fixes.

Posted by Iblis 2009-09-21 18:15|| 2009-09-21 18:15|| Front Page Top

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