Pay hike fosters uptick in Afghan army recruits

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Pay hike fosters uptick in Afghan army recruits
By Anne Flaherty - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 9, 2009 14:14:06 EST

KABUL — U.S. commanders in Afghanistan are reporting a sudden increase in Afghan army recruits this month, a much-needed boost after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his security forces may not be able to take over from U.S. troops for up to five more years.

The uptick followed an autumn slump in Afghan army recruitment, and U.S. military officials attributed the sudden jump to promised pay hikes rather than President Barack Obama’s announcement that U.S. troops will start leaving in 18 months.

“If we continue recruiting like we did, we’ll make it,” Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, head of the Afghan training mission, told reporters Wednesday.

The Obama administration earlier this year had outlined a goal of setting up a viable security force of 400,000 by 2013, and Caldwell was measuring his progress against that figure. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, however, has backed off the goal of 400,000 in recent weeks.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal told Congress on Tuesday that regular measures of the size of the insurgency and the capability of the Afghan forces will be more useful than the hard target, but he estimated the total could be near 300,000 by July 2011, when U.S. forces begin drawing down.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_military_us_afghan_recruits_120909w/