Desertion Rate of Afghan Troops Falls Dramatically

Interesting findings as to the number of Afghan troops that are deserting their posts in the Aghan military - a NATO report finds that the number has fallen considerably. From the article here at OnLineNews:

Addressing international journalists in Brussels through a video link-up with Kabul, Robert W. Cone, the commanding general of Combined Security Transition - Afghanistan said, "Probably 18 months to two years ago we had an AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) rate that was over 20 percent, which is totally unacceptable in a modern army.
Today, as we speak, I think that number is actually below eight percent and the Afghans continue to work this very hard." Stressing the strong ties Afghan youth have with their families, the General said that during the leave programme there are delays, explaining a new pragmatic approach to address the problem.

Now, I think it's becoming more and more evident that Afghanistan has a HUGE ways to go to be able to stand on their own militarily against the Taliban - there are numerous reports of how inept the Afghan troops can be and that their training takes much longer than in other spots in the world, but the fact that they are sticking with it is encouraging.

The importance of a stronger Afghan force can't be overstated especially with recent stalemates in NATO over more troop commitments and even threats of withdrawing from the fight in Afghanistan.

Desertion rate drops in Afghanistan: NATO

BRUSSELS: There has been a dramatic fall in the number of trained Afghan soldiers leaving the Afghan National Army (ANA) over last couple of years, according to top military training officer in Afghanistan.

"Their goal and objective is to assume responsibility for their own security as quickly as we can get them properly manned and equipped." General Cone told journalists, "They have been under development now for over six years and they are now at a strength of about 51,000 troops in the fielded force, and another 10,000 that are currently in training, in the training centres across this country." Coming to the police department, General Cone minced no words in admitting the tough challenges faced by that sector now and ahead. "The police development lags behind the army some number of years. The police problem is much more complicated in its nature because it’s constantly in interaction with the people and frankly there are many more opportunities for corruption and inappropriate activity. "The history of policing in Afghanistan is problematic. And many of the police in the past have been members of former militias and had not had the kind of training and professional education that we as westerners find acceptable in a modern police force." Pointing out ways to root out corruption, the General said, "Things like pay reform, ensuring that the police are paid adequately so they are not prone to what is known as one-handedcorruption, which is that they don’t make enough money and so therefore they must attempt to gain money illegally." Making repeated stressed requests for "police trainers," the General said, "We need additional police trainers to assist us to broaden this programme. Fifty-two districts in a nation where there’s 364 is where we require additional assistance... some of them have already stepped forward, for instance, Great Britain, Canada, have stepped forward and offered on a bilateral basis police trainers to assist in this programme." "We currently have some 1,300 police trainers that are employed in the field." Explaining the need for the large number of police trainers, the General said, "The number of police trainers we currently need is a number of about 2,300.