Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a U.S.-backed plan to create local defense forces across the country in an attempt to generate new grassroots opposition to the Taliban, U.S. and Afghan officials said Wednesday.
The plan Karzai approved calls for the creation of as many as 10,000 “community police” who would be controlled and paid for by the Interior Ministry.
This can be a real aid in the fight against the Taliban if the members are properly vetted and.
In Vietnam we had the Popular Self Defense Forces (PSDF) who was private citizens who would stand guard at night or be the eyes and ears for the District during the day. The PSDF was all volunteers and no one was paid.
The PSDF gave the people a means to not only protect their homes and businesses but also show support for the government. These men and women were not expected to fight but to raise an alarm or alert the authorities to potential enemy activity.
The Vietnamese Popular Forces (local defense forces) and Regional Forces (District defense forces) were the paid full time military guardians of their communities – like active duty National Guard but stationed in their local communities.
The new Afghan program of “community police” will be the a very positive step in a long counterinsurgency program.
