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CNN Live Today

How Should Afghan Government Solidify Control?

Aired September 06, 2002 - 13:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Are more peacekeepers needed in more places? The debate is now underway in the U.S. military and the Bush administration. To help us better understand what is going on, we're joined by CNN Military Analyst retired Brigadier General David Grange -- general, hello.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good afternoon.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about the incentive issues for members of the Afghan army. Why would they want to be -- recruits want to be more involved with a warlord than with a national democratic government?

GRANGE: That is the essence of getting your recruit in to join this army. First of all, the incentives have to be higher, better than what a warlord could offer. That is not only money, because remember, most of these people are unemployed, so it is not only money, but that is also motivation to want to be a part of this army, vice work for a tribal warlord.

So, the incentives are extremely important to recruit any kind people for the Afghan army.

PHILLIPS: And recruits, so many of them are illiterate. There is a high dropout rate. Can the U.S. afford to keep building on this mission, and make sure that it does succeed?

GRANGE: I believe that we are committed to the mission. We have to continue to pursue the goal, along with the rest of the international community. It is not just the responsibility of the United States of America, and so it has to be done. I think they need a surge of effort to get it going, as was just discussed on the program. It will take 20 years to get the size army that would be needed, unless something improves on the amount of people coming in and the intensity of the training, the spreading it out amongst a lot of other countries to help us.

PHILLIPS: Twenty...

GRANGE: That's a tough effort.

PHILLIPS: Yes, 20 years. That is a long time, and a lot can happen within that 20 years. What could be some of the glitches here? Our safety, their safety, an international crisis could easily happen in such a long period of time, and nothing is done quickly.

GRANGE: Yes, the issue is going to be that right now, you have a country that is relatively secure in certain parts of it, by the central government, of course, Kabul. The International Security Force is doing a great job in Kabul itself, but they really have no credibility outside of Kabul because they don't go outside of Kabul. And so, it is the same with the Afghan army. Until the Afghan army is looked upon as a credible, powerful force of some sort, then it doesn't have a representation to deter or prevent acts from happening. So the warlords are still quite much in charge of their areas, so there has to be some kind of a buy-in with the warlord militaries, their militias as part of this army. Somehow that has to be worked out.

PHILLIPS: So do the warlords -- should they be taken on -- head on?

GRANGE: No, they should not be taken head on. It should not become a fight. That would be disastrous for Afghanistan. They need to be persuaded to buy into something bigger than themselves, their tribal area, their region. They need to buy into this nationalistic spirit of being an Afghan, and I think that can be done through information operations, good media campaign, as well as showing -- putting together a professional army tied in with the warlord militias. Somehow that package needs to be put together.

PHILLIPS: General David Grange. Thank you, sir.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

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