Security Governance in Afghanistan

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Security Governance in Afghanistan and the US Role

A critical analysis

Security Governance in Afghanistan

I. Summary:

Afghan security forces have lead security responsibility throughout the country, and the United

States and its allies are reducing military involvement in Afghanistan. The current International security mission finishes at end of 2014 and is expected to transition to a smaller mission consisting mostly of training the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF). The number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, about 100,000 in 2011, was reduced to a “pre-surge” level of about 66,000 by 2012, and to about 34,000 as of 2014 (Ellwood 2014). According to a US report the U.S. force will minimize to about 22,000 by the end of October. A “residual force” that will remain in Afghanistan after 2014 is likely to consist of about 12,000 U.S. and NATO trainers and mentors, of which about two-thirds would be U.S. forces, plus about 3,000 mostly U.S. counterterrorism forces. No decisions on the residual force have been announced, in part because President Hamid Karzai refuses to sign a required Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) before he leaves office in mid-2014 (Krishnamurthy 2014). However, all the candidates in presidential election which just took place with apparent high turnout and minimal violence publicly support the agreement. But a successor will likely not take office until July 2014 at the earliest, constraining the U.S. and NATO force planning process. Fearing instability after 2014, some ethnic and political faction leaders are reviving their militia forces should the international drawdown lead to a major Taliban push to retake power. U.S and Afghan armed force could not totally eliminate The Taliban, Al Q...

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...e the conditional inclusion into a new, more regionally focused structure where it has a real opportunity to participate and win elections in regions such as the greater Kandahar area. This, however, is only possible through governance and the party political reform outlined in the previous chapter.

Works Cited

Ellwood, Tobias. "Stabilizing Afghanistan: Proposals for Improving Security, Governance, and Aid/Economic Development." Atlantic Council , 2014: 3-28.

Fluri, Dr. Phillip. Afghanistan’s Security sector governance Challenges . Geneva: Dr. Antonio Giustozzi, 2013.

Katzman, Kenneth. Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy. CSR Report , New York: Congressional Research Service, 2014.

Krishnamurthy, Rajeshwari. "Afghanistan 2014 BSA, Internal Security, Taliban & Indian Strategy." Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies , 2014: 4-16.

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