Over the last eight years, the United States has “invested” $6 billion in arming and training the Afghan National Police. To no appreciable effect. ProPublica reports that our government estimates that “fewer than 12 percent of the country’s police units are capable of operating on their own.” Anecdotally, oy vey. “The people of Marja will tell you that one of their greatest fears was the police coming back,” says Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who recently assumed command of U.S. efforts to train Afghanistan’s security forces. Who to blame? Everyone. Flawed policy (eight-week training). Squabbling bureaucrats (State Department vs. Defense Department). Endemic corruption (siphoning ammo for the black market). And the quality of the candidates themselves. “Most of the recruits are rural villagers who have never been inside a classroom. Roughly 15 percent test positive for drugs, primarily hashish . . . The ANP still takes just about anyone who applies.” IGW (It Gets Worse).
