Additional troops not the answer, say Afghan forces

KABUL: Police officials from some of Afghanistan's most violent regions questioned the need for more US troops, saying yesterday it would increase the perception they are an occupying power and that the money was better spent on local forces.

The police officials were responding to a confidential report in which General Stanley McChrystal, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, warned the war was getting worse and could be lost without more troops.

"It is very hard for local people to accept any foreigners who come to our country and say they are fighting for our freedom," said General Azizudin Wardak, the police chief in Paktia province. "To give the idea that they are not invaders, that they are not occupiers, is very difficult."

Mohammad Pashtun, the chief of criminal investigation unit of southern Kandahar province, the Taliban's heartland, said that the money would be better off going to Afghan forces.

"Increasing international troops is not useful," he said. "For the expense of one American soldier, we can pay for 15 Afghan soldiers or police."

General Abdul Jalal Jalal, a board member of the national police academy, called for increased funding for training centers to boost the skills of Afghan troops whom he complained don't get the credit they deserve for protecting the country.

"Increasing troops in Afghanistan is not effective. This has been our experience over the past years," said Jalal, who used to be the police chief for eastern Kunar province. "From the experience I have from Kunar province, our Army and police were very effective in all operations that we launched."

AP

(China Daily 09/22/2009 page11)