All American troops are scheduled to be gone from Afghanistan by 2016, but according to new reports, the Afghan National Army (ANA) is not up to the task of safeguarding the country's democratically elected government.
American Special Forces soldiers who served alongside the ANA reported in a U.S. Central Command "friendly fire" investigative file that Afghan soldiers routinely hide in the middle of battles and sometimes just quit fighting altogether.
The Washington Times reports that statements given by Green Berets after a June battle in the Gaza Valley describe how ANA soldiers refused to fight and hid among rocks and trees to avoid battle. Furthermore, Afghan soldiers have no ability to fight at night, and dwindling U.S. troops are consistently forced to take the lead on missions and engage the Taliban enemy first, despite the fact that the ANA is supposed to be "on point."
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The Washington Times continues:
The Green Beret's A-Team leader, a captain, made several unflattering statements. Investigators were probing the mission's end point, when a B-1B bomber mistakenly dropped two bombs on a "friendly" position, killing five American soldiers and the Afghan sergeant commander.
Another Green Beret told of a conversation with Afghan soldiers: "I then told him that we needed to set up a security perimeter. They instead huddled behind a rock." [The Washington Times]
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