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Afghanistan
NATO hands over security to Afghans
2013-06-19
Afghan forces took control of security across the country on Tuesday, marking a major milestone as US-led combat troops prepare to withdraw after 12 years of fighting the Taleban. Speaking at a military academy outside Kabul, President Hamid Karzai said the police and army were ready to take on insurgents, but a bomb in the city underlined persistent instability.

“Our security and defence forces will now be in the lead,” Karzai told Afghan and NATO officials at the event, the timing and location of which had been kept secret due to fears of a militant attack.

“From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces,” he said. “When people see security has been transferred to Afghans, they support the army and police more than before.”

Doubts remain over the ability of Afghan forces to thwart the Taliban, and the NATO military coalition will retain an important function in logistics and air support as well as in combat emergencies.
Check the pic at the link. They look like a scruffy bunch. They don't even wear the same helmets when on parade. Perhaps they can fight, perhaps they're loyal, perhaps .. oh hell I think they're screwed...
But NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that by taking the lead in security on Tuesday, Afghan forces were completing a five-stage transition process that began in March 2011.

“They are doing so with remarkable resolve,” he said. “Ten years ago, there were no Afghan national security forces... now you have 350,000 Afghan troops and police, a formidable force,” he said.
'Formidable' does not mean what you think it means...
“We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations if needed, but we will no longer plan, execute or lead those operations, and by the end of 2014 our combat mission will be completed.”

The handover of the last 95 districts from NATO to Afghan control includes areas in the south and east where the Taliban have concentrated their bloody insurgency since 2001. As Afghan soldiers and police take over the fight against the militants, who were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks, the 100,000 NATO troops will focus on training and mentoring roles.
And protecting themselves from green-on-blue attacks...
Doubts over the Afghan forcesÂ’ capacity have been fuelled by high rates of desertion and fears for the future of foreign aid post-2014.

On Friday, the US commander of the NATO mission in Afghanistan warned that gains secured over the last 12 years would be lost if donor nations cut back support after the foreign withdrawal.

“We are not where we need to be yet,” US General Joseph Dunford told foreign journalists. “The continued presence of the international community politically, in development and in security is necessary to sustain the progress that we have made.”
Posted by:Steve White

#2  Makes a person wonder who made that decision...and why.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2013-06-19 15:01  

#1  I am not sure it is a good idea to handle a relatively high-maintenance weapon like the M16 to a force whose is not even able to handle same helmets to its soldiers while on parade. Thre is a goos reason guerrillas and forces whose men cannot be relied on maintenance work rely on inaccurate but rugged AK47s instead of M16s.
Posted by: JFM   2013-06-19 04:38  

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