Afghan soldiers are seen alert outside of the compound, where ceremony of the second phase of transfer of authority from the NATO- led troops to Afghan security forces was held in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012.
NATO allies are debating how big an Afghan military they can afford, paring down targets, and looking to countries like China to pony up some of the cash, Defence Minister Peter MacKay says.
The Canadian Forces are now playing a sizable role in efforts to train an expanded Afghan army, with 950 trainers posted in Kabul and some other centres until 2014.
But the question of who will pick up the bill for a multi-billion-dollar security force that Afghans can't afford has led NATO to plans to pare down the planned size. The U.S. is proposing the goal of creating an army and police force totalling 350,000 by 2014 be trimmed to about 305,000, while France has suggested 230,000.
"I can tell you this, it will be somewhere between the aspirational goal that they set of 350,000, and the number that is being floated, that is 230,000," Mr. MacKay said in a telephone interview from a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.
NATO defence ministers had an extensive discussion on how big an Afghan force should be, attended by Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, and a briefing on the issue from the allied commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine General John Allen, Mr. MacKay said. Mr. MacKay said he expects no final pronouncement on the target figure will be made until leaders of NATO countries meet at a summit in Chicago in May.
The expansion is aimed at making the Afghan forces big enough to take over the lead of combat operations from NATO and other international troops by 2014. But the big targets set for bulking up the Afghan forces are running into the era of austerity in western nations, who are balking at picking up the tab, which is roughly the size of the entire budget of Afghanistan's government.
"The other side of the equation is the sustainment, and what countries will contribute to that – the figure of just over $4-billion annually to sustain a force of about 230,000," Mr. MacKay said.
A group of more than 60 countries who are now involved in Afghanistan and might contribute sums to sustain the forces – and others, like China, which have economic interests in Afghanistan – should put up money, too.
"There are other potential big contributors out there who haven't been tapped yet, but who are going to be beneficiaries of security in Afghanistan. And to that list I would add the Chinese, who are doing a lot of mining right now."
Campbell Clark