Illiteracy, Corruption Hamper Afghan Police

NATO: Illiteracy, Corruption Hamper Afghan Police – Reuters via The New York Times.

An 80 percent illiteracy rate, corruption and a lack of trained personnel are hampering Afghan police, the NATO commander overseeing the training of Afghan security forces said on Wednesday. NATO has stepped up training of Afghan police in an effort to reform a force that inspires little confidence among locals, struggles with high dropout rates and is frequently accused of incompetence and drug use.

But only 45 percent of Afghan police have had any formal preparation, said U.S. Lieutenant-General William Caldwell, who heads the training mission as the alliance prepares to boost the size of the Afghan army and police to over 300,000 by 2011. The training is also central to NATO’s strategy to eventually transfer control of security to Afghan forces so that Western troops can start withdrawing next year. Professionalizing the police force will not happen overnight, Caldwell said…

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