KABUL - If the mission commanded by the most senior Canadian soldier in Afghanistan fails, most observers agree there is a strong possibility that the war against the Taliban will be lost.
Maj.-Gen. Mike Ward of Ottawa has the daunting task of rapidly reforming and expanding Afghanistan's much-maligned national police, which now numbers approximately 97,000. Yet the target set last week by the Afghan government, the UN and NATO is to have 134,000 police on the beat by the end of 2011.
Even if everything works out perfectly, getting the police from here to there on such a tight timetable is a herculean undertaking.
The goal is to enlist about 2,100 fresh recruits for training every month. However, this is only slightly more than the number of police officers (19 per cent) who quit every year, although attrition has been trending downward recently.
Moreover, tens of thousands of police officers already on the rolls must be thoroughly re-trained to improve their fighting and crime-fighting skills and to acquaint them with issues such as human rights.
Corruption on the police force, as almost everywhere in Afghanistan, is pervasive. Most recruits are illiterate. Many of those expected to enforce the law are themselves drug users.
``The ANP is still a very fragile institution and it carries the highest consequence of failure,'' Ward said during a visit to the Afghan Police Academy in Kabul. ``That is why there is an emerging recognition that we must focus our effort on the police.''
Source:windsorstar.com
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