Obama admin to double strength of Afghan security

Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 5:03 pm

US has decided to double the strength of Afghanistan’s security forces, hoping that a much larger professional army and national police force could fill the void left by central government and do more to promote stability in the country, a media report said today (March 19).

A plan awaiting final approval by the President would set a goal of about 400,000 troops and national police officers, more than twice the forces’ current size, and more than three times the size that American officials believed would be adequate for Afghanistan in 2002 when the Taliban and al Qaeda appeared to have been routed, the New York Times said.

Senior administration and Pentagon officials told the paper that Obama was expected to approve a version of the plan as part of a broader Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy.

But members of Obama’s national security team appeared taken aback by cost projections, which range from USD 10 to USD 20 billion over the next six or seven years, it said.

By comparison, the annual budget for the entire Afghan government, which is largely provided by the US and other international donors, is about USD 1.1 billion, which means the annual price of the programme would be about twice the cost of operating the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Those figures, the Times said, include only the cost of training and establishing the forces, and officials are still trying to determine what the cost would be to sustain the security forces over the long term.

The new proposal would authorise a doubling of the army, after the increase approved last summer, to about 260,000 soldiers. In addition, it would increase the number of police officers, commandos and border guards to bring the total size of the security forces to about 400,000, the paper said quoting officials.

Administration officials, the Times said, expressed concerns that an expanded Afghan Army could rival the corruption-plagued presidency of Karzai.

However, American commanders who recommended the increase argued that any risk of creating a more powerful Afghan Army was outweighed by greater risks posed by insurgent violence that could threaten the central government, it said.

At present, the army fields more than 90,000 troops, and the Afghan National Police numbers about 80,000 officers. The relatively small size of the security forces has frustrated Afghan officials and American commanders who wanted to turn security over to legitimate Afghan security forces, and not local warlords, at a faster pace, it added.

After resisting the idea for several years, the Bush administration last summer approved an increase that authorised the army to grow to 134,000 over the next three years, in a programme that would cost about USD 12 billion.

Some European countries, the paper said, have proposed creation of an Afghan National Army Trust Fund, which would seek donations from oil kingdoms along Persian Gulf and other countries to pay for Afghanistan’s security forces.

(With inputs from Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Obama admin to double strength of Afghan security

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