US sees three more years in building Afghan army

By Will Dunham  |  July 13, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It will take three more years for the U.S.-trained Afghan army, intended to assume security responsibilities now shouldered by foreign forces in Afghanistan, to reach the planned goal of 70,000 soldiers, a U.S. commander said on Thursday.

Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, who heads the U.S. effort to train and equip Afghan government security forces, said the national army numbers "a little bit over 30,000," and that it is growing at a rate of 1,000 per month, with a plan to reach 70,000 in roughly three years.

As in Iraq, U.S. officials have emphasized the importance of forming capable government security forces to take up the task of bringing law and order to a war-ravaged country. U.S. commanders in Iraq have pledged to have a 137,500-strong Iraqi army fully manned by the end of this year.

It has been almost five years since U.S.-led forces toppled Afghanistan's Taliban leaders, blamed for harboring the al Qaeda network responsible for the 2001 attacks on America, and U.S. forces have been helping build a new national army from scratch in a country battered by decades of strife.

Durbin, commander of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, told a Pentagon briefing that Afghan security forces are making steady progress, but overcoming absenteeism and developing capable leaders remain "a challenge."

He said 3,500 U.S. troops out of an American force of 23,000 in Afghanistan are dedicated to training the Afghan army and police.

Afghanistan is experiencing the bloodiest phase of Taliban violence since 2001, as groups of Taliban fighters have entered large parts of the south and east and unleashed a fierce wave of bombings, ambushes and raids.

SHORTAGE OF POLICE EQUIPMENT

Durbin said there are about 62,000 police officers in Afghanistan. About 58,000 are considered trained but only 37,000 are considered equipped. He said 86,000 vehicles are needed for the national police, and there are only 2,000 now.

He said will take "at least the next year or two" to make the police force fully trained and equipped.

Asked why it will take three more years to have the all-volunteer Afghan army at full strength, Durbin said, "Based on how we have put the program together, we feel that the 1,000 a month is appropriate to retain the quality and establish the quantity that we feel is effective."

Durbin said some of the first Afghans who volunteered for three-year stints in the army are reaching the end of these terms, and about 35 percent are re-enlisting, well below the goal of 50 percent.

Durbin cited illiteracy in the ranks as an issue facing Afghan forces.

"We must all be clear to understand that illiterate definitely does not mean stupid. It means a different learning technique. And the Afghan soldiers are very quick to learn and to pick up the training. They are very intelligent in that respect," he said.

Durbin said U.S. trainers are mindful about weeding out corruption in the police forces.

"There are perhaps many bad lessons or behaviors that these policemen have learned, and they don't understand the true essence of rule of law and to serve and protect," Durbin said.

Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak was quoted this week as saying an Afghan army of 150,000 to 200,000 would be needed to secure the country.

Durbin said that while the plan is for an army of 70,000, he did not rule out a larger force sometime in the future. "The government of Afghanistan, in consultation with the international community, may revisit that number," he said.