JE: What can be done to make the Afghan National Police into an effective force for law and order under the Afghan Constitution? Do you think the U.S. and its allies should be training the police, or should some other body do it?
Some would argue that US' training our national police could raise many eyebrows. The most important question however is who recruits the police force. One of the biggest problems with our security forces is that the majority of them are the militias associated with warlords. In fact, whenever the Afghan central government appoints a police chief, they allow him to take his own people with him. Thus, he takes his former fighters with him who then undergo a short period of government training by the government. Changing their uniform won't change their views and six-months training won't decrease their loyalty to their bosses. Most of the police men don't trust the stability of Afghan government and think they may need to return to their commanders if anything goes wrong with the government. That's why they are more loyal to securing the benefits of the warlords and not the ordinary people.
I believe the Afghan government should do a campaign at the grassroots level about the recruitment of police personnel. They should continue hiring ordinary Afghans and give them incentives for their commitment and confidence in joining this force. The police academies should be strengthened in the provinces and security forces should go under proper and complete professional trainings.
JE: The US is talking about "peeling away" "reconcilable Taliban" from the hardcore by negotiations between US and NATO military forces and local leaders or foot soldiers. Do you think this is a good idea? Would it work? Could it undermine the government's process?
We have continuously been hearing about these terms of "Moderate Taliban", "Reconcilable Taliban", etc. The point here is that if there were any reconcilable/ moderate Taliban, why were they not given a chance to take part in the government process from very beginning?
If we all agree that there are moderate and extreme Taliban, extreme Taliban are the ones that are sabotaging the stability of our country. We should be concentrating and working hard on engaging the extremists and not those who are not a threat. Bringing "moderate Taliban" into the government and keeping the rest away won't help secure Afghanistan. All should be free to join the democratic circle.
Giving them titles will only divide them into different sects and provide them with an excuse or an opportunity to remain in government with the name of "Moderate" and continue with their current activities of insecuring the lives of ordinary Afghans with the name of being "Extremist Taliban".
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Check out the latest video from Brave New Films' Rethink Afghanistan project on civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
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