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| Afghanistan |
| Back to Basics for Afghan Soldiers as NATO Allies Exit |
| 2014-05-14 |
| [AnNahar] A computer without a power cable, a spy camera with English instructions that no one can read, and water-logged accommodation -- life on the frontline can be a long series of setbacks and challenges for Afghan soldiers. In the eastern district of Khogyani, the war against Talibs is a day-to-day struggle for control of fields and villages just outside Jalalabad, one of Afghanistan's biggest and most strategic cities. At one post, six soldiers live in a flimsy wooden shack made of planks, plastic sheets and sandbags, on alert 24 hours a day for attack from the surrounding rebel-held mountains. They dry their clothes on a rope and spend their days on guard duty, listening to radio messages and passing on information to other units in the area. "Of course, we are proud of our job," Shapoor Ahmadzai, 27, told Agence La Belle France Presse. "We are here to serve our country, and we are hopeful and optimistic about the future. "But this place is an absolute mess. When it rains, water just comes into the room, so nobody can do his job, and we live in darkness when we don't have electricity." Basic issues over equipment, living quarters, food supplies and vehicle maintenance are among the major problems facing the Afghan army as it fights a resilient enemy that controls swathes of the south and east of the country. The 190,000 soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) have largely taken over responsibility for the war against the Taliban after more than a decade in which well-equipped, well-trained NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... troops dominated the battlefield. All 51,000 remaining NATO combat troops will pull out of the country by December. "If they equip us with helicopters and fighter jets, and if they support us properly, we can perform our job the best way on our own," Ahmadzai said. "But we are short of helicopters and planes, and without them it will be difficult for us." - Spartan army life - Soldiers at the post in Khogyani hang flak jackets by their beds at night in case of emergencies, and keep their sparse personal possessions on wooden beams in living conditions that boast few creature comforts. Billions of dollars of foreign money -- most of it American -- is spent every year on Afghan cops in the hope they will be able to secure the country and prevent a return to civil war after NATO troops leave. The army has been built from scratch since 2002, and has made rapid progress, but it remains dogged by high desertion rates, ethnic imbalances and poor logistics. Also looming over the ANA is the ever-present threat of "insider attacks", when soldiers -- inspired either by the Taliban or personal grievances -- turn their guns on their own colleagues. The ministry of defence declines to give numbers for such incidents, but it became such a problem for NATO troops that "guardian angel" snipers were assigned to oversee joint-patrols. "A few months ago, a soldier wanted to assassinate the general here," an Afghan intelligence officer told AFP. "We were suspicious and tracked down explosives he had hidden in his car. Such a danger exists in all of Afghanistan." The officer, who declined to be named, showed AFP the computer on which he was meant to gather reports. It sat uselessly on a desk, with no power cable, and no electricity to plug it into. He has also been supplied with a high-tech digital camera, but it doesn't have a memory card and no one can work out how to use it as the instructions are written in English. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 That's not funny SteveS that's, |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-05-14 19:41 |
| #3 People that can't fix a roof want helicopters? My advice: order big ones. That way you can set up housekeeping in the wreckage once the fires are out. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-05-14 17:56 |
| #2 "What's a roof?" |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2014-05-14 13:34 |
| #1 "But this place is an absolute mess. When it rains, water just comes into the room, so nobody can do his job, and we live in darkness when we don't have electricity." Initiative must be a foreign word in the Afghan language. These bozos can't figure out how to caulk a roof? |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2014-05-14 09:27 |