KABUL – The Afghan President has recently spoken to a foreign journalistand displayed the Stockholm syndrome. He was quoted to have said that ANA(Afghan National Army) would collapse in six months’ time if the USA leftAfghanistan. Whom does he think he is addressing to?

The Afghans don’t tire of self-boasting and bragging to be the ‘toughest’fighters and ‘freedom’ lovers. And yet, their President is trying to woothe Americans to stay in Afghanistan for some more time and throw some moredollars. Strange for all the chest thumping of Afghans!

President Ashraf Ghani has been grossly optimistic about six months’ timesince all independent observers of the Afghan affairs conclude thatAfghanistan’s security apparatus is in no shape to take responsibility ofproviding security to the Afghan people. The reason for this incompetenceis not very hard to find. An ordinary Afghan is a brave and sturdy person.He can transform to be an excellent soldier par excellence. But rampantcorruption, nepotism and poor standards of leadership in ANA have made it alaughing stock of the world.

US military aid which is meant for the Afghan army is routinely sold off tothe same insurgents against whom it was meant to be used

It is no surprise then that the US administration is feeling the heat. Inlatest audit report of SIGAR (Special Inspector General on AfghanReconstruction) auditor John Spoko has been extremely critical of theAfghan administration in general and their defence and security apparatusin particular. He lamented publicly saying, “It appears insurgents are atthe end of our supply chain”.

These remarks were a reference to reports emerging in international mediaoutlets that Afghan generals and senior officers had been selling weapons,food and fuel to the Taliban for money and bribes. A starving andunder-equipped army cannot be expected to do any better than what it isdoing.

This hurts the Afghan security in many ways. The US assistance which isdestined for operational needs of the Afghan army is sold off to the sameinsurgents against whom it was meant to be used. That leaves the Talibanwell stocked and armed, and they don’t need any external supplier of armsand ammunition. Moreover, this sold out stuff doesn’t stop at weapons andfuels but includes rations as well.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai had categorically accused theAmericans of conspiring with the ISIL. He is not an ordinary ill-informedperson. He was the Afghan president from 2001 till 2013.

The country transitioned to democracy under his watch. When he sayssomething, it is a serious business. He also alleged that gross humanrights violations were carried out by the Afghan and allied forces duringhis time in the presidential palace and that he had been trying his best tostem these abuses. This is no off the cuff remark by a lowly governmentofficial. This is the former president of Afghan republic.

According to Karzai, the Afghan people were sick and tired of the war andwanted to handle their affairs themselves. Why does the USA not grant thiswish of Afghan people to them?

The world is its right to ask as to how President Ashraf Ghani expects togain from the US stay in Afghanistan even after 17 years.

If the Afghan security forces have not come up to any worthy standards in17 years of training by international experts and generous assistance ofnearly $65bn, how long would it take for Ashraf Ghani and his team toestablish a credible defence and security establishment?

It is time for President Ashraf Ghani to focus inwards for bringing peaceto Afghanistan. He must cut down on his favourite pastime of accusingPakistan of all the ills of his country. He should mean business and demandaccountability of his security team.

ANA has astronomical desertion rates when compared to any modern nationalarmy. The 27 percent of recruits desert within 18 months of joining theforce. These desertions are accentuated by poor leadership, corruptgenerals, and mounting casualties due to inadequate training and lack ofequipment.

The US auditors had identified nearly 23,500 ‘ghost’ soldiers in the Afghanarmy. These ghost soldiers were drawing regular salaries and benefits butwere not available when it came to fighting. After the performance auditreports were made public, the Afghan authorities came under pressure andstarted to put their own house to some degree.

The Afghan soldiers and officers, visiting the USA for training are thehighest in numbers of deserters (nearly 47 percent) seeking asylum in theUSA.