by Joshua Foust

Honest brokers of the stories coming out of Afghanistan cannot say the ALP program—the Afghan Local Police, the latest scheme in a long, tattered history of trying to do “local security” in Afghanistan—is anything other than a muddled half-success. Most of the arguments I was aware of place the blame on ISAF’s inability to vet the recruits, the lack of accountability structures, and the very strong likelihood they will encourage a renewal of the warlordism that everyone wants to avoid.

Refugees International, however, offers an additional angle to the ALP story, which is part of a grander story they tell of the effects of the last two years of COIN: massive disruption to civilian life....

RI is explicit, and strident, in their condemnation of the ALP program, which is hastily-assembled and barely controlled. And they focus their criticism on the ALPs in the North, which is the sight both of a renewed insurgent offensive and probably the area with the most at stake (since it is typically the most “pro-western,” however that is defined).

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