December 27,2008:
Afghanistan is in the process of
expanding its army to 134,000, hopefully by 2011. The government wants a force of
200,000, but first foreign allies must be convinced to donate enough money and
trainers. The current army has just completed its training, for a force of
68,000. The national police force has been expanded to 76,000. The soldiers are
trained to a higher standard than the police. In fact, there are serious
problems with the cops, mainly because of a lack of good leadership.
Afghanistan has never had a real national police force, and building one isn't
easy. The culture of corruption, and tribalism, plus widespread illiteracy, are
proving to be formidable obstacles. Those police units that are well led (and
there are some of them) and have worked out good relationships with local
tribal leaders (difficult, because of the many feuds, and short tempers), do a
good job. Having to battle the Taliban and drug gangs puts additional strain on
an already weak force.
Previously,
the largest peacetime army Afghanistan ever had was in the late 1970s, when a
Russian trained force of 90,000 (with over a thousand armored vehicles) was
raised. This did not last, as a civil war broke out, and the Russians invaded
in late 1979. A year later, most of the army had rebelled or deserted. When the
Russians left in 1989, they had rebuilt the Afghan army to 45,000 troops. That
force disappeared in the next five years, as the nation descended into civil
war. The Taliban won that war, but never had a standing force of more than
20,000, and these were largely militia, with one brigade of fanatical, and
deadly, al Qaeda fighters to keep the Afghan troops loyal.
The current
army has been trained to Western standards, by NATO instructors. By Afghan
standards, it's a pretty effective force. Nearly tripling its size will take
several years, if the same training methods are used. The thousand or so
Russian armored vehicles the Afghans had in the late 1970s, are nearly all gone
to scrap, chicken coops, or roadside reminders of the Russian invasion. The
Afghans are reequipping with Cold War surplus German Leopard tanks. The Afghans want a larger force to deal with
the Taliban insurrection, the growing power of the drug gangs, and possible
trouble with Pakistan or Iran.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. has completed building a main facility for the Afghan Air Corps. At the north end of Kabul's civilian airport,
a separate, $183 million, airbase has been completed (including a hospital,
barracks, hangers, classrooms, conference center and workshops). There, 1,300 members of the air corps, along
with 17 Mi-17 transport helicopters, three Mi-35 helicopter gunships and six
AN-26 and 32 transports, will be stationed. The air corps are also some L-39
trainers and AH-1 helicopter gunships. The air force is shopping around for
cheap fighters, and counter-insurgency aircraft. The Afghans are receiving a
lot of Cold War surplus Russian helicopters from Eastern Europe and Russia. Over
the next three years, another 32 Mi-17 helicopters will arrive, as well as 18
C-27A transports to replace the elderly An-26/32 aircraft. The Afghans are also
shopping for a single engine, propeller driven, aircraft that can double as a
trainer and as a light attack aircraft. There are several models out there
competing for this sale.
Afghanistan
has no need for a navy, as it is landlocked, and has few navigable rivers or
large lakes.