$BILLIONS$ From U.S. Fail to Sustain Foreign Forces NYT

[Ichingcarpenter]

WASHINGTON — With alarming frequency in recent years, thousands of American-trained security forces in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia have collapsed, stalled or defected, calling into question the effectiveness of the tens of billions of dollars spent by the United States on foreign military training programs, as well as a central tenet of the Obama administration’s approach to combating insurgencies.


The setbacks have been most pronounced in three countries that present the administration with some of its biggest challenges. The Pentagon-trained army and police in Iraq’s Anbar Province, the heartland of the Islamic State militant group, have barely engaged its forces, while several thousand American-backed government forces and militiamen in Afghanistan’s Kunduz Province were forced to retreat last week when attacked by several hundred Taliban fighters. And in Syria, a $500 million Defense Department program to train local rebels to fight the Islamic State has produced only a handful of soldiers.


American-trained forces face different problems in each place, some of which are out of the United States’ control. But what many of them have in common, American military and counterterrorism officials say, is poor leadership, a lack of will and the need to function in the face of intractable political problems with little support. Without their American advisers, many local forces have repeatedly shown an inability to fight.

“Our track record at building security forces over the past 15 years is miserable,” said Karl W. Eikenberry, a former military commander and United States ambassador in Afghanistan.

The American military has trained soldiers in scores of countries for decades. But after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that mission jumped in ambition and scale, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the ultimate goal was to replace the large American armies deployed there.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/world/middleeast/uss-billions-fail-to-sustain-foreign-forces.html?ref=world

[bemildred]

1. Privatization has a lot to do with it. nt

[GreatGazoo]

2. The Romans had essentially the same problem

They could conquer with their own legions but holding the territories was more difficult. They needed to win the hearts and minds of the conquered, needed to make them "want to be Roman." Their answer was to co-opt the Christian religion and use that to control large populations. The Roman (military) Empire was replaced by the Holy Roman Empire.

Many military entities now use a combination of weaponized religion and military hardware. A belief in martyrdom and the afterlife (and fear of their commanders) keep conscripts fighting. Part of the challenge for the US in countries like Afghanistan is that we aren't credible when trying to motivate locals. What works on US soldiers doesn't work on them. We tattoo our troops with "Death before Dishonor" and "Never forget 9/11" while local Muslim troops are indoctrinated with a whole other set of death wish and revenge themes.

War, where would we be without it?

[AngryAmish]

3. It us almost as if the people we train have their own mores and customs different than ours.

Having a sergeant from Missouri yelling at you does not magically create a fighting force.

[Octafish]

4. Lt. Col. Ted Westhusing noticed problems when the Profit Motive got mixed in.

The corruption became systemic.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3123460

Col. Westhusing tried to bring it up, but was suicided before he could talk to Congress or the pretzeldent.