AFGHANISTAN SECURITY: U.S. Programs to Further Reform Ministry of Interior and National Police Challenged by Lack of Military Personnel and Afghan Cooperation

AFGHANISTAN SECURITY: U.S. Programs to Further Reform Ministry of Interior and National Police Challenged by Lack of Military Personnel and Afghan Cooperation
March 9, 2009

Highlights of GAO-09-280, a report to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives

The United States has invested more than $6.2 billion in the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Afghan National Police (ANP). The Department of Defense’s (Defense) Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A), with the Department of State (State), leads U.S. efforts to enhance MOI and ANP organizational structures, leadership abilities, and pay systems.

This report assesses the status of U.S. efforts to help Afghanistan (1) restructure MOI and ANP, (2) retrain ANP units, (3) screen MOI and ANP personnel, and (4) enhance MOI and ANP pay systems. GAO reviewed Defense, State, and United Nations (UN) data and met with officials in the United States and Afghanistan.

What GAO Recommends
GAO recommends that the Secretaries of Defense and State (1) provide dedicated personnel to support creation of additional police mentor teams to expand and complete the FDD program and (2) consider provisioning U.S. contributions for police wages to reflect the extent to which U.S. agencies have validated MOI and ANP personnel. Defense concurred with the first recommendation and State noted it is prepared to recruit additional personnel. State concurred with the second recommendation but Defense asserted that it would unduly penalize MOI. GAO maintains that the recommendation could encourage greater ANP cooperation and help ensure that only legitimate personnel receive U.S.-subsidized wages.

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Afghanistan, GAO (Government Accountability Office)