Think Tank Critical of Claims of ‘Afghan-Led’ Operations
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Department of Defense/Pfc. Jorge A. Ortiz, U.S. Marine Corps(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Just who is leading who in Afghanistan?
The Kabul-based think tank Afghan Analysts Network says that when the International Security Assistance Force claims that more operations are “Afghan-led” as the U.S. and NATO try to take a back seat militarily, the coalition is being less than truthful.
British analyst Kate Clark, who authored the report by the Afghan Analysts Network, says, “ISAF’s desire to present accounts of events as favorably as possible is to be expected, but sometimes this slips into propaganda, half-truths and, occasionally, cover-up.”
The basic plan of the ISAF is that as coalition forces are gradually withdrawn from Afghanistan in the coming months, Afghan national forces are expected to take more of the lead in military operations against the Taliban, the Haqqani network and other enemies of the government.
However, Clark and the other analysts allege that the phrase “Afghan-led” is being bandied about too often in an attempt to mislead the public into thinking their soldiers and police are actually controlling many situations.
The most recent instance of that was the coordinated attacks on Kabul and other provinces earlier this month when Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. and NATO forces, boasted how Afghan forces did most of the fighting to repel the insurgents with no need to call for coalition back-up.
However, the real story was that the Afghan Crisis Response Unit in Kabul had Norwegian and British special forces soldiers embedded in units.
In another example, Greek and Turkish troops decided to return fire when their base came under attack rather than wait for Afghan soldiers to respond.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio