Word: afghanization
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...resources for what some critics call America's "invisible" war. Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has recommended to Gates that the U.S. send more troops and more money to Afghanistan. He has proposed almost tripling the spending on assistance to the Afghan Security Forces and reconstruction projects to some $8 billion...
...Allowing Afghans to build that house themselves is the goal of an ambitious plan unveiled at the Pentagon late last year by General Karl Eikenberry, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak. It calls for the establishment of a fully functioning army three years ahead of the schedule originally envisaged. "The formula for success in Afghanistan is to enable the Afghan national security forces to defend the Afghan people," Wardak told the press conference. But armies take years to build, and Wardak is looking to double the current troop numbers...
...soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) have the most dangerous job in Afghanistan. The dark khaki camouflage uniform - a gift from the U.S. government - may as well be a beacon for Taliban attacks. Insurgents often target the ANA, knowing that the poorly prepared troops rarely drive armored vehicles and lack sufficient firepower to mount a counter-offensive. Several hundred ANA troops have died in combat since 2003, and a new Taliban directive has decreed that their alliance with foreign forces makes ANA soldiers infidels, and thus a legitimate target...
...While the new Afghan recruits are often fearless fighters - nearly three decades of continuous war has instilled a stoic acceptance of pain and privation that would hobble most modern militaries - few are prepared for the discipline required for service in a regular army. One U.S. drill sergeant wryly recognizes that time is an elastic concept for most of his trainees, and a tribal leader from Helmand estimates that any given day finds as many as half of the ANA soldiers in his province stoned on hashish...
...laces on their brand-new army boots. "They may be sheepherders now, but in 16 weeks they will be soldiers." Staff Sgt. George Beck, Jr., says the development of a full professional army may take a little longer. "It's all about crawl, walk, run. Right now the Afghan army is at a crawl. In a few more years it will walk, and in 10 it will run. Then we can all go home...