Afghan police crisis threatens British withdrawal as thousands quit force

[alp227]

Source: The Observer

Afghanistan's police force, whose success and stability is crucial to allowing the government to withdraw British troops, is losing nearly one in five recruits every year, new figures reveal.

Foreign Office statistics show that more than 20,000 officers from the Afghan National Police (ANP), the country's main law enforcement agency, have left over the past year. The Foreign Office figures will cause concern in the armed forces, where the success of the police is seen as the basis for handing control to an Afghan government in 2014 and British troop withdrawal in 2015.

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said the figures were "worryingly high" and could play a significant role in determining when Britain can leave.

"In order to get into the condition where we can hand over the country to the Afghans themselves, to manage the security of the country, we need not only a capable army, we need a strong police force," he said. "We are a long way from there. The Afghan national army has still got a long way to go even if it is improving, and the police are some way behind that."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/12/afghan-police-crisis-threatens-british-withdrawal

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Anderson Cooper did a story about the Afghan police on 60 Minutes last month.

[aquart]

1. But it's THEIR business. It's not our business.

[msongs]

2. in other words these so called police have their hands out for more bribes lol nt

[MJJP21]

10. Not necessarily

Remember the ultimate goal is defeat of the west. They really want us to stay in order to bankrupt us and end our entire lifestyle. They have nothing else to do. If they die fighting they really believe they will go to heaven. For them its a win win situation for us to stay.

[KG]

3. afghanistan is a monumental clusterfuck. it's never going to get better,

no matter how many the US kills.

[frylock]

5. but didn't you read the news? we're going to start using tanks. TANKS!!1

[Monk06]

4. First and announcement regarding a new gas pipeline project in Southern Afghanistan

linking Pakistan with Kazakhstan and bypassing Iran. Then
the Afghan security forces are judged to be too unreliable
to 'return' control of the country to the Afghans.

What a coincidence that both stories are published the same day.

[Gin]

6. watched Restrepo tonight and that war is not winnable...

it is a clusterfuck...

[Monk06]

7. This is the country that even Alexander the Great gave up on.n/t

[Diclotican]

9. Monk06

Monk06

Not enterly true, as Alexander the great was able to have most of what is today Afghanistan by his hand.. But it was the soldiers, who was not in agreement with Alexander, when it came to the conquest of India, who are down south there.. Before the indian debakable it was some disagreement in the higher up command in Alexanders army, he killed even a few of his closest allies, something he regreted dearly after the act... He was drunk, and angry, so I guess...

But Alexander and the army he had counquered most of what known as the world of that day, was using metodes in Afghanistan, that could not be used today, even tho Alexander boosted about his attac on sivilians, and razing of city's, and was really proud of it all.. Even when he arrived in a greek City in the middle of Afghanistan (posible what today is Khandahar) and enslaved most of the peopole, and razed down the city becouse of evange from the Persians war a couple of houndred year earlier...

Formally Afghanistan (what is it today) was part of the great greek-macedonian empire as long as Alexander himself lived, after he died the empire was splittering up in a few kindoms, and the far away places, as Afghanistan was, was more or less independed by the age of the roman Empire...

Diclotican

[Monk06]

12. I took a little license with history. He did establish a greek city in Bactra I think

in Northern Afghanistan but encountered stiff resistance
in the south. JMO but I think Afghanistan marked the
beginning of the end for Alexander. He fought the southern
tribes for two years and then judging by the map of his Asian
conquests he moved on to Bactra then onto a meandering series of
marches in the Oxus Valley and then moved south to India. Where
he lost the confidence of his generals and was forced to march
home through what is now Pakistan.

JMO once again but I think like Caesar crossing the Rubicon,
Afghanistan broke the Greek expansion into the eastern Persian
empire and led to the split with Ptolemy and contributed to
Alexander's death.

[daleo]

8. At least some people got an education

When NATO leaves, the Taliban will have an up to date police force, even better than the one the Soviets left behind.

[bemildred]

11. Maybe they don't want to get killed just so the Brits can leave?

You do have to wonder here what exactly the "manage the security of the country" refers to? I usually think of that as repelling foreign occupiers and defending the nations sovereignty etc., but that is clearly not what Col. Kemp means, he means something like "manage the occupation effectively for us so we can leave".