Police in Af-Pak

Foreign Policy continues its string of interesting, insightful articles on the Af-Pak situation with this article from Robert Templer. He argues that policing has been overlooked and underdeveloped by coalition forces in Afghanistan while the Pakistani police are sorely lacking in training and equipment.

The problems plaguing the Afghai police are well documented. The police force has long been seen as less important than the Afghan army. That concentration on the military has paid dividends and though the size of the armed forces needs to be increased, it has managed to flex its muscle against the Taliban with decent results and it is also perhaps the most trusted institution in the country. However, the lack of focus on the Afghani polise has left it tiny, in disarray, and its leadership corrupt. Refocusing on the police force is vital to begin to provide the rule of law that America's new counterinsurgency strategy demands. That means cops on the beat and on the corner able to prevent crime as well as respond to it. In addition, the formation of a stable and competant poice force is the first step in reviving the institutions of law and order such as the courts and prison system.

Across the border in Pakistan the problem is just as difficult if not more so. Police are deprived of resources and the bulk of American aid for fighting terrorism goes to the army with very little ever trickling down to the police who are on the front line in both the tribal regions and, increasingly, in supposedly safe cities like Lahore. It remains to be seen whether the new American strategy will be able to funnel much needed resourvces to those in the Pakistani security forces who really need them.