e-Ariana - Todays Afghan News
 Home 
 News 
 Articles 
 Cartoons 
 Feedback 
 Opinion  
 Contact Us  
 An Ariana Media Publication 09/03/2010
 Deal reached on Afghan police training

International Herald Tribune
08/26/2007
By Judy Dempsey

[Printer Friendly Version]

BERLIN - The United States, the United Nations and the European Union have agreed with the Afghan government to introduce common standards in building up the police force in Afghanistan after several governments criticized lack of coordination since the program was set up five years ago, officials said over the weekend.

The decision comes amid a sharp increase in violence during the weekend. The Interior Ministry said 41 people were killed and at least 6 wounded in suicide bombings and gun battles near the capital, Kabul. In the southern province of Kandahar, 8 Afghan officers were killed after insurgents attacked a police patrol. Two Afghans who were guarding a convey carrying supplies for NATO-led forces were also killed, The Associated Press reported.

The agreement to standardize police training means that different methods adopted by the United States, Germany and other countries will be put under a single new authority: the International Police Coordination Board Secretariat, based in Kabul.

The international approach, agreed to with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, could be the start of a more efficient police force able to move in quickly to maintain security once a military operation has been completed, and provide protection to development agencies so that the local population could see tangible improvements on the ground.

"There was replication previously," Colonel Many-Bears Grinder of the U.S. Army, deputy head of the International Police Coordination Secretariat, said in an interview with the International Herald Tribune over the weekend. "When you have limited manpower and resources, it does not make sense to waste these resources in the duplication of efforts where there are other areas that may need some of those resources."

Grinder is assigned to the Combined Security Transition Command, the American-led military unit that supervises the development of the security forces.

After October 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, Germany and the United States agreed to take over the responsibility of establishing and training a new police force.

Until 2006, the United States has spent more than $1.3 billion in training a force that is mostly focused on border control and highway security in courses lasting about three weeks. Germany, in contrast, spent €70 million, or $95 million, training officers in courses that lasted up to three years and concentrated on community policing.

Security experts have said that the U.S. course was too short, and the German courses too long and bureau- cratic.

The courses also failed to train a force capable of dealing with the growing narcotics trade or the re-establishment of the Taliban, those experts said. The EU took over the German police training mission this summer, increasing the number of trainers from about 50 to nearly 200.

"This is now becoming a coordinated effort," Grinder said. "We also strive for an international joint effort in reviewing the curriculums as well as projects."

She said the training for police officers and for the most basic training levels were now under review. The International Police Coordination Board Secretariat was also working closely with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

One project, she said, involved training police officers about rights. "We are trying to get human-rights offices assigned in every province, down to the district level," Grinder said.

Several organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly complained about poor police training.

Back to Top



Other Stories:


Life in Talibanistan - Part One: Throw these infidels in jail
Asia Times (09/03/2010)

The disconnect between pipelines and transparency
Globe and Mail, Canada (09/03/2010)

Of women, cosmetics & electioneering
Pajhwok (09/03/2010)

Karzai orders huge shakeup in Ministry of Interior
Pajhwok (09/03/2010)

Afghan banker warns of 'revolution'
United Press International (09/03/2010)

Karzai tells Afghans not to panic in rush for withdrawals
The Washington Post (09/03/2010)

What Led Kabul To Sack Ambassador To U.S.?
RFE/RL (09/02/2010)

Karzai's brother calls for U.S. to shore up Kabul Bank as withdrawals accelerate
The Washington Post (09/02/2010)

Interviews With Said Jawad, Afghan Ambassador To U.S
CNN, The Situation Room (09/02/2010)

Afghans Pull Money From Weakened Bank
The New York Times (09/02/2010)

Afghan finance minister: "Every penny of the deposits would be guaranteed by the government"
The Associated Press (09/02/2010)

Lessons in Crony Capitalism
The Huffington Post (09/02/2010)

Too Corrupt to Fail?
The New Yorker (09/02/2010)

A.Q. Khan
Newsweek (09/02/2010)

'It's premature to begin pulling troops' from Afghanistan, says Greg Mortenson
Pioneer Press (09/02/2010)

Lonq queues at Afghan bank amid corruption claims
AFP (09/02/2010)

14 Candidates Removed from Parliamentary Elections List
Tolo News (09/02/2010)

Few signs of run on Afghanistan's Kabul Bank
The Associated Press (09/02/2010)

Nervous Afghans pull money from Kabul Bank, raising fears
The Washington Post (09/02/2010)

Afghan ambassador to US to leave post, slams smears
AFP (09/01/2010)

Afghanistan takes over biggest private bank to avert collapse
AFP (09/01/2010)

Karzai in panic as graft probe closes in
Global Post (09/01/2010)

Where Did The Money Go?
Yahoo News (09/01/2010)

Afghanistan's biggest bank in near disastrous collapse
World News (09/01/2010)

After Obama's Iraq Speech, Afghans Worry About U.S. Commitment
TIME (09/01/2010)

Afghan Police's Lack of Guns and Gas Shows U.S. Exit Plan Flaw
Bloomberg (09/01/2010)

"Afghan concern about Pak is legitimate" - Gen. Petraeus
The Associated Press (09/01/2010)

Birthplace of the Taliban: the next battleground
The Associated Press (09/01/2010)

Afghan Ambassador Said T. Jawad leaving his post in Washington
The Washington Post (09/01/2010)

Afghanistan bomb attacks kill twenty-one US soldiers in 48 hours
The Telegraph (09/01/2010)


Back to Top