The dispiriting trend of “green on blue” attacks in Afghanistan, in which Afghan soldiers or police attack coalition counterparts, continues with two attacks, one of which killed two American soldiers in western Afghanistan. These are the sixth and seventh attacks in the past 11 days, indicating that we are seeing another spate of such attacks similar to the one that occurred early in the spring. In all, as Long War Journal notes, such attacks have accounted for 13% of coalition deaths this year–39 out of 299 fatalities. This is higher than the total (35) claimed in green-on-blue attacks in all of last year.
Such attacks are especially grim because they call into question the loyalty of the Afghan security forces and may lead many on the home front to exclaim in disgust that we should pull out because our purported allies are not just ungrateful but positively anti-American. But keep this in perspective.
There have been approximately 31 such attacks this year (not all result in casualties, others cause multiple fatalities), mostly carried out by lone wolfs, roughly half of them Taliban infiltrators, the others simply disgruntled personnel. The entire Afghan National Security Forces are roughly 350,000 strong. So only 0.009% have attacked coalition counterparts this year. The rest of the ANSF, especially the army, is growing in strength and competence. They are, in fact, suffering higher casualties than coalition forces as they fight the Taliban. As General Jim Mattis, head of Central Command, told Congress: “No force is perfect. I would just remind everyone that even Jesus of Nazareth had one out of 12 go to mud on him.” He noted: “We should not allow a few criminals, malcontents, to define the Afghan security forces…. This is a force that’s come a long ways.”
That is an admonition worth heeding.
Understand, from a "big picture" point of view. n nFor those whose son, husband, father, etc. has been the victim of one of these attacks, not so easy.
"Such attacks are especially grim because they call into question the loyalty of the Afghan security forces and may lead many on the home front to exclaim in disgust that we should pull out because our purported allies are not just ungrateful but positively anti-American." n nYa think? George Will was right. We should have pulled out long ago and conducted this war by drones and special forces. When we are gone, we will leave as much of an imprint on this primitive, barbaric culture as Alexander the Great did 2300 years ago. What a pity. What a waste.
Mr. Boot is once again lamentably spinning this notion that the Afghan army will be able to handle internal security on their own. Ever. n nThe Afghan Army has been documented over and over again to be drug-addicted, unmotivated and prone to corruption. Rampant. n nThere is absolutely *no* way that the ANA or police will effectively fight the Taliban or Al Qaeda once U.S. forces start coming home beginning this Fall. Illiterate as the Afghans may be, they can clearly see the writing on the wall and know that they will be switching sides or simply going back to their respective villages as soon as the American forces are gone. n nWorst of all, El Presidente chose the worst of all options. He could have opted to get serious about defeating the Taliban by investing the necessary forces and sidelining Karzai out (i.e., victory), or he could have opted to cut our losses and pull out most U.S. forces while cutting deals with various warlords and regional governors to keep out the Taliban. He chose the half-a**ed strategy of putting in not enough troops while signalling our eventual retreat and then dragging out the fighting so that our troops are getting killed for absolutely no purpose while we continue to burn through billions of dollars without any return on investment. n nThese killings by Afghan troops are simply the sure sign of a rotten policy and the stench of defeat.