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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 9:16 a.m. ET on Wednesday: The Taliban claimed Tuesday that 18 members of Afghanistan's border police force and local militia had deserted their respective services and joined the "Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" in Nangarhar, a province close to Pakistan.
"After holding a few meetings with local elders...all the 18 policemen and personnel of the local militia agreed and came to us at Surkh Rodh area of Nangarhar province," claimed Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Hundreds of Afghan soldiers detained, fired over 'links with insurgents'
He said all the policemen joined the insurgent movement early on Tuesday.
There is no way to verify Taliban claims independently, but the organization supplied a list of the names of the 18 who had allegedly defected.
What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?
Taliban insurgents regularly issue claims of responsibility for attacks and other incidents that are later proved to be false.
In a statement sent to NBC News early on Wednesday, Afghanistan's Ministry of the Interior said the Taliban's claims about the police defections were "baseless and untrue."
A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed two US special forces members in the western Farah Province of Afghanistan. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.
However, Mujahid said they had persuaded local elders and parents to convince their sons who were working in the new Afghan security services to stop supporting the "occupying" forces in Afghanistan.
Afghan Taliban income: $400 million last year, UN estimates
Many Afghans say the Taliban often threaten family members and relatives of those serving in the Afghan army or police, putting them under pressure to quit.
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I see nothing but potential defectors when I look at Afghan police. Sadly, none can ever be fully trusted.
Steve
Look under the rug they call an army. The number of defectors will be much larger and if you count those who are playing for both sides WOW !!!! As for being trusted. I think none of them should be trusted.
Defect to us or we will Chop off you head. Oh sure, that's a no brainer. Fear and threats do not last long term and the Taliban know it.
No surprise there. The Taliban is the government that the people of Afghanistan want. We kicked the Taliban out ten years ago, and the Afghans welcomed them right back in with open arms. Just get our troops out of there and stop throwing money away on countries that don't want our "help".
When your arms are up in the air because a gun is pointed at you, those are not open arms.
Read.
You can't give people freedom if they don't want it. We've been trying for 10 years.
These people have to learn to stand up for themselves. Eventually, something will snap in their heads and they will say enough is enough to the Taliban and decide to fight back. Right now, all our presence is doing is giving the Taliban a recruiting tool.
Of course people are defecting. Why would people start to depend or trust foreigners invading their land? They will use the US until we are no longer stupid enough to waste our money on them. How long will it take the US to get out?
These police are just people that have grown accustomed to having their heads attached.
WHO CARES? Stop reporting this sh.t as that is what they want. How can you believe what the T says anyway? This is not a story -they all hate us and want to kill us and it is impossible to know who is real and who is a phony.
Who Cares?
As long as US based multinational corps have access to the precious metals, minerals, and natutal gas, etc.
That's the only reason for a continuing occupation.
With all the money we have dumped into that worthless pit of despair and the lives we have lost in our own good men and woman trying to help this worthless country, we could have put a 100 ft. wall around the entire place and left them to kill each other off!!! These weak-minded people continue to say they want help and freedom from the terrors of the Taliban, but then turn around and kill those trying to help them. For one of the oldest civilizations on the planet, it is one of the most ass backwards and uncivilized as well. We should do the same with Pakistan, as they let these Taliban dirt bag killers live, train, plot, plan and attack out of their country. Just another bunch of backstabbing middle eastern scum!!!
As much as it pains me once again to have been proven correct...
I said this 10 years ago - as soon as we're out these humanoids would go right back to their tribal infighting and murdering of each other. And they'll keep doing it again and again and again. And Washington will never learn that the only trustworthy middle easterner is a middle easterner with his head separated from his body.
These things have raised generations to do nothing but hate and kill and oppress each other, and most importantly to lie to and hate us.
And why?
No one alive has anything to do with why - and there was no United States when this all began.
They'll use "because we support israel" as an easy excuse, but in truth...
They're still 'avenging' things that happened during the Crusades.
Even their reason for hating each other is beyond archaic... because no one made up which of mohammd's offsping was his heir... maybe this moe fellow was more clever than we thought and realized neither Shiite or Sunni were worthy heirs - if any of what they claim happened can be believed.
Sadly, there is no solution to "the middle east problem".
While it would certainly feel good to say "f--k you all, you're on your own", pull out our troops and stop sending all forms of aid - that isn't a viable option either.
If we were to do exactly that, you could count on China, Russia and/or North Korea to step right up and offer them whatever they want to hear, so it's not simply just a matter of being able to get ourselves out bed with the middle east, but it is necessary to prevent someone worse from jumping right in.
The only correct solution to the middle east problem is the one solution no one considered sane will look at, and that's the total eradication of all life, down to the microbial. Only that will ever solve the middle east problem. Anything short is simply sweeping the problem under the rug to fester.
18 less peices of crap to worry about after we drop the big one on their slice of heaven
let them fight it out like in Syria, less muslim, less problems!
They just happen to know what the Taliban has in store for Afganistan come 2014. Although our troops will be in Afganistan untill at least 2024 it will be a fairly small force to help ensure the survival of the new Afganistan Gov. The small force will more then likely see more action then all the units combined has so far. obama scores yet another failing grade!.
How would one score a passing grade in this subject???Just curious.
That's an easy one as obama shouldn't have made any statement about a withdraw untill the mission was fully acomplished, and at that point there wouldn't be a need to keep troops there for an additional ten years. The only reason to keep the troops there for an additional ten years would be becouse obama isn't sure the mission was truely acomplished.
I disagree with the President on this one as well. But from a different perspective.
He should have started a withdrawal after Bin Laden was killed.
China has the mining contracts. The Pakistanis and Afghan's hate us. And Karzai is a two faced worm from the same tribe as the Taliban. When the security forces were mainly northern tribes you had less green on green attacks. But no, Karzai's tribe had to be inserted into the security mix.
There is absolutely no reason to spend US blood & treasure there, or in Pakistan.
Your not going to make the hell hole a democracy. Not in ten years , not in a hundred.
What else is "new" in this hell-hole of a country? It baffles me that the powers that be in the west, learned nothing from the woes of the once "Soviet Union!" As I've stated in an earlier posting, the allied-forces squandered a golden opportunity to quash the Taliban once and for all! Why wasn't the military strategy, come with massive/maximum power for a quick kill, and nothing less?!
Maybe somewhere on high, there was no commitment to win? If so, then what is the real game going on in that part of the world!!? Just some passing thoughts as I reflect on this "military blunder!"
The bad part is they took their US TAXPAYER weapons with them. The more money we pump into Afaganastan the more the Taliban gets.
My bet is that about 35-40% of the Army and Police are Taliban now! They are just waiting to take back over when NATO pulls out. And there are a lot of Taliban in office there already too. They were elected this last time around....we just don't know which ones they are. Any takers on my bet?
Elected???? Interesting term to use in the same sentence with Taliban. A country that has no frame of reference for democracy can never be converted. Get US troops out. We cannot ever win in a war with a thrid world nation. Read your history.
The Taliban is made of abusive cowards. The are wife beaters, women-decapitating ignorants and will not survive the modern days forever.
And they have always been that way, we don't change them. Dead American troops have accomplished nothing and will never change these people. Leave them to their own ways and get our troops out. We cannot win in third world countries, they have nothing to lose and life is cheap to them. The US learned nothing from Vietnam and Korea.
We cannot win any war long as it is going to be "Nation Building". Period.
In recent history George H.W. Bush is the only President to have used our military how it should be used, when we helped Kuwait and kicked Saddam's arse in 100 hours.
kill the Taliban. Every last one of them
This is a war on the emenys that attacked us on 9/11 ALL OF THEM WILL DIE. This Organizion will die death to the taliban
Yet more reason to be out of that godforesaken country as soon as possible. Leave it to the Taliban or whomever, just get Americans out of there. It's a hell hole, not good for anything. They thrive on oppression and insanity, so get our troops out of there!
More American money well-spent!
After 9-11 happened, the American response should have been to send a few B-1's over there and nuke them. The Muslims respect force.
Respond with underwhelming force, expect underwhelming results.
IMO nukes isn't the answer. Though I do agree that a quick "spanking" (Something a bit more extensive then what we did to Saddam when he invaded Kuwait) would probably have been more effective in the long run rather then a decade of "Nation Building".
Maybe the Taliban pays better with Ramadan a paid holiday. Better medical and dental and indexed pension. Just like the unions. wink wink