HARVEY DEFENDS AFGHAN FORCES
July 7, 2010 4:46 PM
Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey has defended the training of the Afghan security forces after the Afghan National Army were described as "drug-addicted mercenaries" and deserters in the House of Commons.
In a Parliamentary question, Labour MP Paul Flynn said: "A detailed American investigation into the Afghan army reports that a third of this group of drug-addicted mercenaries desert every year and that its members have little or no loyalty to their election-rigging president, their own government or international governments. Why on earth do we expect to build a stable Afghanistan on that crumbling foundation?"
In response, Harvey said he did not recognise Flynn's description of the Afghan national army.
"I visited Afghanistan just two weeks ago and British and American armed forces spoke very well of their Afghan colleagues," said Harvey. "Nobody pretends that the situation is perfect, but we are involved in an embedded partnering relationship with the Afghan national army to try to ensure that the highest degree of skill and professionalism continues to grow and develop.
"We are impressed with what it has done so far; it is increasingly able both to plan and execute missions in its own right, and I have no doubt whatever that we are continuing to progress in the right direction."
Harvey revealed that there are currently 119,000 members of the Afghan national army (ANA) and about 104,000 members of the Afghan national police(ANP). Delegates at a London conference on Afghanistan in January set targets for the recruitment of 171,000 members of the ANA and 134,000 members of the Afghan police force by the end of 2011, taking total security force numbers to 305,000.
Regarding the suggestion that training for the Afghan police had suffered more setbacks than ANA training, Harvey said: "In recent years, it has certainly been true that there have been concerns about the police not being as good as the army. However, I think that that situation is being rapidly addressed and that there is a tangible improvement in the training being given to the Afghan national police.
"The Helmand police training centre is based strongly on western models. There is a lot of western assistance in there, and most recent reports say that the quality of police recruits has improved tangibly on what it was like a couple years ago."
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