ANALYSIS | The ‘mini-me’ Afghan army was always doomed

The US shouldn’t have used its military model to train Afghanis. It should have built a version of the Taliban’s force

17 August 2021 - 19:57 By James Stavridis

In 2006, as a US Navy vice-admiral, I was in Iraq travelling with US secretary of defence Don Rumsfeld. At a town hall with US troops, he famously answered a question about the US Army’s lack of armoured vehicles by saying: “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” It was an honest, but tone-deaf comment, and it was rattling through my mind at the weekend watching the stunning collapse of the Afghan security forces in the face of a Taliban onslaught...

This article is free to read if you sign up or sign in.

If you have already registered or subscribed, please sign in to continue.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.