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US Study Says Afghans Not Ready to Manage Forces

Afghan uniformed police in Helmand Province learn to read and write under an internationally funded literacy program. It is one of many in parts of the country that are now under Afghan government control.

It is here where the U.S. and NATO are fighting one of their biggest challenges in preparing Afghanistan to take full responsibility for its security before international forces pull out in 2014.

Nearly 70 percent of Afghans are functionally¹ illiterate², and that makes it difficult to find qualified³ people to manage supply systems and infrastructure⁴ to sustain its security forces. 

Those forces are growing. U.S. Defense⁵ Secretary Leon Panetta - at a NATO meeting in Brussels last month - said efforts to train them are paying off.

"The number of Afghan security forces has now grown to about 350-thousand, and that larger force has maintained its recruitment and retention⁶ rates. Those forces have taken the lead to very complex combat operations, and they are suffering the vast majority of coalition⁷ casualties - a further sign that the Afghans have the willingness to sacrifice and take the fight to the enemy for their own future,” Panetta said.

But a report by the Special Inspector⁸ General for Afghanistan Reconstruction⁹ suggests those gains could be jeopardized¹⁰. The report looked at the Afghan government’s operations and maintenance capabilities¹¹ and concluded they are undeveloped - making the force incapable¹² of sustaining itself when international troops leave.

It said one major problem is the high number of soldiers and contractors¹³ who are illiterate and cannot do things like basic accounting¹⁴ and purchasing, or read manuals and blueprints¹⁵ to operate power plants.

Security analyst¹⁶ Gary Schmitt of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington says the deficiencies are a major threat to peace in the country after 2014.

“Like every soldier, if you don't have food, if you don’t have equipment, if you don’t have ammunition¹⁷, and particularly in a fledgling military like Afghanistan’s, what happens is people leave. The desertion rate is already high but if you’re not being equipped and you’re facing an enemy, you’re not going to stay in place. So it’s a serious question,” Schmitt said.

The U.S. administration has decided¹⁸ to pull American forces out by 2014, and Afghan leaders support that decision.

But they say they will still need international support beyond the withdrawal¹⁹ date.

Analysts²⁰ say the inspector’s general report raises further question of whether Afghanistan is ready to secure itself beyond 2014.