Posted by
Kyle on Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:25:11 PM
Of course the NYT things Afghan defense minister Wardak issues a
"gloomy assessment" when he says the Afghan Army cannot secure the country without 150,000 troops from the current 27,000.
Well let's see, the French army is about 300,000 strong, about 100,000 of which are Gendarmeries - so the Afghans need an army about the size of that of France whose Muslim insurgency is mainly confined to the suburbs, and to date is not quite as well armed as the Taliban.
I met Wardak when posted to Afghanistan and he has no intention to begin to combat the Taliban and the drug lords with 150,000 troops. The level of education and lack of a history of an organized military (unlike Iraq) make this a very tall order.