US Army Depends on Afghan Security Firm for Protection

By Jeremy Scahill The Nation

In early November, five British soldiers in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province were killed in an attack at a checkpoint. Six other British soldiers and two members of the Afghan National Police were wounded. The attacker was also a member of the ANP working alongside the British troops. He had been trained at a NATO-supported police academy in Kandahar and had worked as a policeman for three years.

Soon after the incident, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. "We want to sow mistrust between the Afghan National Police and foreign forces," a Taliban spokesperson said. The Pentagon downplayed the significance of the incident: "However tragic and criminal this act was, it represents a rare and, luckily, thus far isolated incident," said spokesperson Geoff Morrell.

The deadly attack highlighted the crisis of loyalty facing US-led forces in Afghanistan as training of Afghan forces becomes a central part of President Obama’s strategy. In his speech at West Point, Obama emphasized that the surge of 30,000 US troops in Afghanistan "will increase our ability to train competent Afghan security forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight. And they will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans."

As the number of US troops surges, so too will the number of US contracts for security and other services. In late November, new guidelines were issued by the US Joint Contracting Command for security contracts in Afghanistan requiring private security companies to "hire a minimum of 50% of its guard force from within a 50 kilometer [thirty-mile] radius of the location requiring security." At present, according to the Defense Department, there are 104,100 contractors in Afghanistan, most of whom are Afghans. A December report by the Congressional Research Service projects the overall number of contractors in Afghanistan could swell to 160,000 as a result of the surge in US military forces.

Read more at The Nation