US-funded program to arm Afghan groups begins

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2 hours ago

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A U.S.-funded program to train and arm community members in Afghanistan's most dangerous regions as a way to defend against the Taliban has begun, the country's interior minister said Saturday.

The U.S. will provide funds to arm the community force with the same weapons used by Afghan police — Kalashnikov rifles, said Interior Ministry Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

The program has already begun, but Atmar refused to say where, citing security concerns. Other officials have said the program will begin in Wardak, an increasingly dangerous province on the southwest side of Kabul.

"After training they will have the responsibility of protecting the people, providing security for the highways, schools, clinics and other government institutions," Atmar told a news conference.

. . . Atmar said the program is called the Afghan Public Protection Force.

Critics note that the program will put more weapons into Afghan hands, reversing years of government efforts to reduce the number of arms around the country . . .


read: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9623K280

[ShortnFiery]

1. Oh yow-ser!

That will help the WOMEN and CHILDREN of that poor, perpetually waring Nation.

I also hear that General "Peaches" Petraeus is going to be HONORED :wtf: at the Super Bowl Game Sunday. Ask Col Westhusing's family what they think of "the good" General's integrity?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/gen-petraeus-and-a-high_b_94458.html

Before putting a bullet through his head, Westhusing had been deeply disturbed by abuses carried out by American contractors in Iraq, including allegations that they had witnessed or even participated in the murder of Iraqis. His suicide note included claims that his two commanders tolerated a mission based on "corruption, human right abuses and liars." One of those commanders: the future leader of the "surge" campaign in Iraq, Gen. Petraeus.

snip

"When he was in Iraq, Westhusing worked for one of the most famous generals in the U.S. military, David Petraeus," Bryce observed last year. "As the head of counterterrorism and special operations under Petraeus, Westhusing oversaw the single most important task facing the U.S. military in Iraq then and now: training the Iraqi security forces."

Bryce referred to a "two-inch stack of documents, obtained over the past 15 months under the Freedom of Information Act, that provides many details of Westhusing's suicide....The documents echo the story told by Westhusing's friends. 'Something he saw drove him to this,' one Army officer who was close to Westhusing said in an interview. 'The sum of what he saw going on drove him' to take his own life. 'It's because he believed in duty, honor, country that he's dead.'"
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Petraeus and his morally bankrupt crones are in the process of ARMING a different group of THUGS and KILLERS in Afghanistan. But it will be OUR BOYS, ya know? :puke:

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2. why, they're offering the children jobs

. . . the first units will be drawn from Afghan youths chosen by community leaders and placed into provinces where the Taliban is most active.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/international/2009/January/international_January1812.xml§ion=international

[MadHound]

3. Looks like Obama is going to get what he wanted, his very own Vietnam

Expanding military operations is not the answer here. As many of the experts have said, we're in a war of ideas, which means we need to be offering the better alternative to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, not just more guns and death.

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4. let's hope not

It's going to be a challenge to cause his diplomacy to outshine the military moves.