Afghan Army’s Turnover Threatens U.S. Strategy -- New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — The first thing Col. Akbar Stanikzai does when he interviews recruits for the Afghan National Army is take their cellphones.
He checks to see if the ringtones are Taliban campaign tunes, if the screen savers show the white Taliban flag on a black background, or if the phone memory includes any insurgent beheading videos.
Often enough they flunk that first test, but that hardly means they will not qualify to join their country’s manpower-hungry military. Now at its biggest size yet, 195,000 soldiers, the Afghan Army is so plagued with desertions and low re-enlistment rates that it has to replace a third of its entire force every year, officials say.
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More News On Afghanistan
ISAF Joint Command daily operational update, Oct. 16 -- ISAF
Afghan security service denies bomber who killed 2 Americans, 4 Afghans was 1 of its agents -- Washington Post/AP
Suicide ‘Insider’ Attack Kills Six in Afghanistan -- New York Times
Report: Two Americans among six killed by Kandahar suicide ‘insider’ -- Stars and Stripes
Afghan spy carried out suicide attack -- AFP
Combined Force Arrests Haqqani Leader in Ghazni -- US Department of Defense
17 Talibs killed in Ghazni -- Voice of Russia
Two Taliban leaders arrested in Afghanistan: coalition -- Xinhuanet
Army colonel's memo foreshadowed doomed soldier's email -- Stars and Stripes/Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Brush with death for young Afghan linked to bomb -- Stars and Stripes/Seattle Times
Afghanistan: A former US ally says a new conflict looms -- MinnPost
How soon is now? Afghanistan and drawdown logistics -- Kevin Baron and Gordon Lubold, The E-Ring/Foreign Policy
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