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Don’t give up on the people. We must tackle the police who let them down
Robert Fox, Defence Correspondent4 Nov 2009
The murder of the five soldiers inside a safe military compound demands an urgent and radical
rethink of British political and military tactics.
But it should not mean a drawdown or pull-out of British forces from Afghanistan — as suggested by former Labour foreign affairs minister Dr
Kim Howells.
This is the third murderous attack by Afghans wearing police fatigues, and they demonstrate the increasing innovation of the Taliban.
They also underline the problems raised by the national police force.
Training them has been a qualified failure since the arrival of allied troops at the end of 2001.
More than two thirds of all recruits are illiterate and they are notoriously corrupt and venal. Now there are plans to “accelerate” police and military training.
But Peter Galbraith, who left his post as deputy head of the UN mission in Afghanistan amid
disagreements over the presidential elections, said the process of police training and recruiting had been very rushed and the time allowed was getting shorter.
So the message from today's attacks, and the other police killings, is think again'. The British and their immediate allies must come up with a way to stabilise as much of Afghanistan as they can.
There is no point in waiting for Barack Obama to
tick the boxes on the new “surge” strategy by US allied commander General Stanley McChrystal, for that could mean waiting for weeks.
The enemy is now tougher and more widespread, and the stakes are higher. Now the international allies are saddled with an Afghan president who has just been returned to power in highly dubious circumstances.
This means the allies will have to rethink how they work with Kabul to bring security and stability. It is much better to have a smaller but functioning Afghan army than the ramshackle arrangements which aim to raise and train 400,000 police and soldiers in three years.
It is not the moment to call time on the Afghan people, but on the police force that has failed to protect them.
Reader views (1)
The same thing happened to the Americans last month. One of their patrols as attacked by Afghan soldiers that were meant to be patrolling with it. The problem is that they don't want Western help, just Western money. I say we should use the Aid weapon, ie withdraw all aid, humanitarian or otherwise.
- Sue R, London, 04/11/2009 14:23
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