Michael Ignatieff believes Canada should remain in Afghanistan past 2011, ostensibly to train Afghan recruits.
We've been at this now for almost nine years and a lot of that time has been spent training Afghan soldiers. How has that worked out?
Western forces have trained a lot of Afghan soldiers, plenty of them, but their army's desertion rates ensures there's never been enough and never will be.
I can't embed this video but follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F80llZ5F4 It's a Guardian video of American troops serving in the field with Afghan soldiers who are stoned out of their minds on hashish.
Current desertion rates are estimated at 25% per year. http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/20/the_pricetag_of_that_afghan_army
This May, 2010 report from the International Crisis Group makes clear that training more soldiers won't help the Afghan Army. It's an institutional mess in need of a wholesale overhaul:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/190-a-force-in-fragments-reconstituting-the-afghan-national-army.aspx
Sorry to harp, but shouldn't a political leader know these things before issuing bromides disguised as policy?
We've been at this now for almost nine years and a lot of that time has been spent training Afghan soldiers. How has that worked out?
Western forces have trained a lot of Afghan soldiers, plenty of them, but their army's desertion rates ensures there's never been enough and never will be.
I can't embed this video but follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F80llZ5F4 It's a Guardian video of American troops serving in the field with Afghan soldiers who are stoned out of their minds on hashish.
Current desertion rates are estimated at 25% per year. http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/20/the_pricetag_of_that_afghan_army
This May, 2010 report from the International Crisis Group makes clear that training more soldiers won't help the Afghan Army. It's an institutional mess in need of a wholesale overhaul:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/190-a-force-in-fragments-reconstituting-the-afghan-national-army.aspx
Sorry to harp, but shouldn't a political leader know these things before issuing bromides disguised as policy?
Well I guess so we should stay since all that wealth has been found. Facetious is as facetious gets.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, anon, positively brilliant. Aren't you supposed to have your nap now?
ReplyDeleteSeems that many have forgotten the original aim of our invasion there...
ReplyDeleteNine years? Fuck me....
In the end, we will declare victory and walk away...
I just wish it were sooner than later.
We, as part of the coalition, have failed to even have a half-effective policy there. This was predicted years ago....