Afghan Army Lacking Pashtun Recruits

A critical requirement for stability in a post-U.S. Afghanistan is the establishment of an indigenous security force that has the power and legitimacy to maintain peace – if it ever comes. In order to turn the tide in Afghansitan, U.S. and NATO strategists know they must enroll a large number of southern Pashtuns. Yet, the recent inability to do so may indicate that years of civil war will ensue, as the Pashtun-based Taliban insurgency in Southern Afghanistan continues to grow.

The Pashtuns are Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group, making up about 40% of the entire country, most of which inhabit the south in places like Kandahar, the birthplace and spiritual cradle of the Taliban, while the Afghan National Army (ANA) is made up mostly of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and other minority groups.

Read the rest of the story in "Afghan Army fails to recruit indispensable southern Pashtuns", The Examiner, September 13, 2010.