Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

The Afghanistan military force is doing well for a young army, according to commander of the Combined Security transition command - Afghanistan (CSTCA) Major General Robert W. Cone.

Cone discussed some of the progress made by CSTCA in Afghanistan. According to Cone, CSTCA’s goal is to organize, train, equip and employ security forces to defeat insurgencies. He said that increasing the rule of law and gaining internal security will lay the foundation for economic stability. Cone said that CSTA accomplishes this through embedded training teams, police mentor teams and operational mentor liaison teams to teach, equip and mentor the Afghan army and community.

When asked how many Americans were under his command, Cone said that in CSTCA there are 3,000 civilians and 5,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. Cone acknowledged the increased attacks in Afghanistan and noted that the Afghan army has stepped up to address that problem. According to Cone, half of the forces dealing with the attacks are Afghan military forces. Cone pointed out that the Afghan military forces also lead 66 percent of operations which he said was impressive for such a young army. Military forces improve at combat by participating and the Afghan military ‘learns by doing,’ according to Cone.

Cone addressed the fact that Afghan police are several years behind the army in terms of development. Cone said changes such as pay reform and rank reform are required to ensure greater accountability. CSTCA is currently short of 2,300 NATO police trainers but Cone also noted that countries such as the U.K. and Canada are contributing police trainers. Cone emphasized that he is ‘very optimistic’ of the future of Afghan security and said that he believes the Afghans in the army and police force are patriots.