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CIAO DATE: 12/5/2006
Cop Out - Why Afghanistan Has No Police
Vance Serchuk
July 2006
Abstract
In the aftermath of the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan looked to the international community--and to the United States, in particular--to rebuild an indigenous national police force. More than four years later, however, the Afghan National Police (ANP) remain ill-equipped and ill-disciplined, a glaring blind spot against a revived insurgency. The story of the ANP reveals not only the crucial importance of police assistance in the global War on Terror, but the ways in which the U.S. government, as currently organized, is fundamentally incapable of carrying out this kind of mission effectively.
When rioting sparked by a fatal traffic accident involving the U.S. military suddenly broke out in Kabul in May, most in the city were taken by surprise. Less shocking was the response of the Afghan National Police (ANP) to the unrest. Rather than dispersing the mobs and restoring order, Kabul's cops were reported fleeing their posts and, in some cases, joining the looters. “The reaction of our police was really shameful,” acknowledged Jawed Ludin, chief of staff to President Hamid Karzai.