The History Of The Afghan Army And Where Its Weakness Began

The History Of The Afghan Army And Where Its Weakness Began

ABSTRACTAnalysts have long made Afghanistan a central focus of study. Despite the fact that NATO has learned a lot about the region, the people’s culture, as well as the state’s complexity, a main concern remained: what would become of Afghanistan? The uncertainty could result in other circumstances that the NATO forces could not be able to handle. This paper will seek to analyze the history of elections in Afghanistan. These elections will happen when the NATO forces exit Afghanistan in early to mid-2014 after handing over the security situation to the security forces in Afghanistan. Consequently, several issues will arise including the ability of the Afghan forces to be as effective as the NATO forces, political opposition to the new president, as well as Afghan’s new position in the international community. In addition, Afghan leaders will have to determine how they will be in the international community as a new sovereign state without the presence of any foreign army, which they have depended on for the past 11 years. Several gaps of information exist in the literature concerning Afghanistan. This thesis shall look into the current state of the Afghanistan forces.

Key Words: Afghanistan, security forces, international community, NATO forces

AbbreviationsISAF- International security assistance force

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization

OEF- Operation Enduring Freedom

USAID-Agency for International Development

DOD- Department of Defense

CERP- Commander’s Emergency Response Program

PRT- Provincial Reconstruction Teams

ICG-International crisis group

TI- Transparency International

FATA-Federally Administered Tribal Areas

ISI- Inter-Services Intelligence

ANA- Afghanistan National Army

UN-United Nations

UNAMA-United Nations Mission to Afghanistan

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382550” ABSTRACT PAGEREF _Toc346382550 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382551” Abbreviations PAGEREF _Toc346382551 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382552” 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc346382552 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382553” The research question PAGEREF _Toc346382553 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382554” Subordinate questions PAGEREF _Toc346382554 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382555” Limitations PAGEREF _Toc346382555 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382556” Methodology PAGEREF _Toc346382556 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382557” Thesis Outline PAGEREF _Toc346382557 h 8

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382558” The aim of this study PAGEREF _Toc346382558 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382559” Significance of the study PAGEREF _Toc346382559 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382560” 2.0 Relations to previous studies PAGEREF _Toc346382560 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382561” 2.0 Methodology PAGEREF _Toc346382561 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382562” 2.1 Case study PAGEREF _Toc346382562 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382563” 2.1.1 Building of Explanations PAGEREF _Toc346382563 h 12

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382564” 2.1.2 Data Triangulation PAGEREF _Toc346382564 h 12

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382565” 3.0 Theoretical Discussions PAGEREF _Toc346382565 h 13

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382566” 3.1.1 Afghanistan and security issues PAGEREF _Toc346382566 h 13

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382567” History of Afghanistan Authority PAGEREF _Toc346382567 h 14

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382568” 1978: The Soviet Union and Afghanistan PAGEREF _Toc346382568 h 15

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382569” The Taliban: From fiscal year 1994-2001 PAGEREF _Toc346382569 h 16

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382570” Afghanistan sovereignty PAGEREF _Toc346382570 h 17

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382571” U.S. Assistance in Afghan PAGEREF _Toc346382571 h 18

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382572” NATO in Afghanistan PAGEREF _Toc346382572 h 19

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382573” Stages of NATO expansion in Afghanistan PAGEREF _Toc346382573 h 21

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382574” Stage 1: NATO’s expansion to the north PAGEREF _Toc346382574 h 21

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382575” Stage 2: NATO goes to the west PAGEREF _Toc346382575 h 21

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382576” Stage 3: NATO’s expansion to the south PAGEREF _Toc346382576 h 22

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382577” Stage 4: The Eastward expansion: ISAF takes responsibility for the whole of Afghanistan PAGEREF _Toc346382577 h 22

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382578” Effects of NATO involvement on Global Security PAGEREF _Toc346382578 h 23

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382579” The Transformation of NATO PAGEREF _Toc346382579 h 25

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382580” The Lessons that can be learnt from the Afghanistan case study PAGEREF _Toc346382580 h 26

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382581” Impact of the International Community on Afghanistan PAGEREF _Toc346382581 h 31

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382582” Democracy in Afghanistan PAGEREF _Toc346382582 h 35

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382583” Proposed Reforms PAGEREF _Toc346382583 h 36

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382584” Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc346382584 h 38

HYPERLINK l “_Toc346382585” References PAGEREF _Toc346382585 h 39

1.0 IntroductionIn the last decade, the Afghanistan situation has been a subject of focus in the international community. The political and social effects of the Cold War and Communism resulted in the deterioration of the state. This is because the situation has resulted in terrorist attacks connected with the Taliban forces and other terrorist leaders like the late Osama bin laden (Swenson and Sugerman, 130-146). The two conditions brought about insurgent groups like the Taliban who have come together to ensure they are in power. This has resulted in various wars in Afghanistan that have destabilized the military. In addition, the political and military aspects of Afghanistan have been influenced by foreigners. As part of Afghanistan’s policy, the state aims at becoming a pluralist democracy. Nevertheless, there is great fear of what will occur in that nation state after the NATO army hands over their control of the nation state to the Afghan government. By extension, the NATO forces will give their control to the National security forces in Afghanistan. This army will safeguard the security, fighting, and peace in the whole state. There are many speculations about whether the state will go back into a state of anarchy or civil war, or whether it will still pursue democracy. Only time will be the final test as to whether this state will remain democratic. While there are many possibilities open to the end state of Afghanistan, this study investigates whether the Afghan security forces are ready to handle the security situation in their nation state after elections.

There are speculations that the Taliban forces may just be buying time before there is mass departure of the NATO troops in the fiscal year 2014. Various efforts carried out to ensure that this insurgency groups are terminated has proven to be a failure. Numerous reports have proven that the Afghan security forces have been able to hand over their weaponry to the insurgencies. These forces have been given another name dubbed, “green-on-blue,” or “attackers on the inside” to connote their work. The Taliban attack because of hostility towards what the coalition may depict. In the fiscal year 2012, there was an accidental burning of the Bible by the Americans and this sparked hatred of the Taliban towards the west. Hence, the attackers on the inside of the Afghan security forces pose a major threat to the upholding of democracy in the nation state. Furthermore, the Afghan forces do not have adequate military strength to shake off the things that act as a threat to the security of the nation state. This was depicted when the Afghan president Fahim warned that the security situation would go down if the security forces were not given the right machinery before the NATO forces left Afghan in the fiscal year 2014. Without such equipment, the Afghan security will rely on the civilians for security. This will compromise the state of security that exists in Afghan. In this scenario jihadists could spread their propaganda to the populace; and be a menace to the nation state.

This research paper will look into present conditions in Afghanistan to populate what will happen after elections, and discuss how the security forces will perform after the withdrawal of the NATO force from Afghanistan. The research will look into Afghanistan’s history it is evolution into democracy. However, much emphasis will be placed on how the NATO forces have prepared the Afghan forces to be able to handle the security of the entire state once they hand over their power.

The research questionThe discussion and analysis in the paper center around one research question: Are the Afghanistan security forces ready to handle the security situation in their nation state after elections? To address this question, subordinate questions are also entertained.

Subordinate questions1.How have the Afghan forces been able to handle the security in Afghanistan?

2.How has the interference of foreigners affected the Afghanistan military?

3.How have the NATO forces prepared the Afghanistan army for the period after elections?

4.Has democracy been achieved in Afghanistan?

5.How has self-interest been manifested in the Afghan soldiers?

Limitations

Although the research was prepared with much attention, there were various limitations. For instance, since the study is premised more on the secondary sources of research, the research is more likely to be biased. This is because it relies more on the opinions of the various authors who have written on this subject. Secondly, since the research is new, it has lacked researches carried out by past researchers. Previous research forms the basis upon which most researchers are built upon.

MethodologyThe thesis’ key objective is to ensure that there is sufficient knowledge on the operations of the Afghanistan army. This will enable analyst to judge whether the Afghanistan force will take care of the issues of security in Afghanistan after the elections in 2014. This case study will depend on methods that will support such analysis. After the problem has been identified, the researchers will immerse themselves in the secondary and primary sources that are present. In research terms, immersion implies that the resource materials employed must be placed under thorough assessment to know their authenticity, bias as well as their value in this thesis. The outcome will assist to narrate the exact record of what happened. Various journals, books as well as articles have been employed in this thesis to explain the situation in Afghanistan. The historical information that has been provided in this thesis provides excellent perspective on the Afghanistan security forces.

Thesis OutlineChapter 1 introduces the title of the study by giving a brief background of the Afghanistan security forces and the democratic situation in the nation state. This chapter also outlines the main significance of the study and the reasons why the research was conducted. The objectives of the study, research questions that guided the researcher and the assumptions that the researcher had while conducting this research.

Chapter 2 comprises of the literature review and summarizes the relevant research. Additionally, it explains the history of the Afghan security forces, their previous times status and whether they have improved or not.

Chapter 3 discusses the methodology used and explains the qualitative content analysis methodology used to interpret this study.

Chapter 4 investigates and explains the results of the qualitative content analysis and themes that emerged when three different individuals coding is analyzed.

Chapter Five discusses the limitations, results and implications of this study in regards to how the conditions of the security forces in Afghanistan.

The aim of this studySoon after the Afghanistan elections, the new president will face the challenge of ensuring that his army does not defect to the insurgent groups that exist in his nation state. Most of these soldiers defect because of lack of money and their own self-interests Therefore, it is imperative that both the new government NATO ensures that the Afghan military is taken care of so that there is stability in the government. This thesis therefore seeks to look into the history of the Afghan army to know where the genesis of its weakness began. Moreover, it seeks to understand the various ways that the Afghan government can ensure that there is stability in the army.

Significance of the studyThis study is relevant to government officials, scholars, nongovernmental organizations, and humanitarian groups who have an interest in the Afghan situation and a smooth transition of power and security in 2014.

2.0 Relations to previous studiesThis topic came about because of lack of sufficient material for the research topic. The materials for this topic have not only been scarce in the media but also few academicians have been able to focus on what would happen to Afghanistan after elections. Katzman Kenneth, a senior Iran analyst has managed to write numerous books on Afghanistan security issues. Articles written by this author have been employed in this thesis. Barnett Rubin has also written numerous works on Afghanistan. He is a political scientist who has managed to establish his niche in the study of Afghanistan issues.

A wide variety of literature on Afghanistan security issue portrays diverse perspectives. This thesis illustrates some of the perspectives with a specific stress on the security issues in Afghanistan.

2.0 MethodologyThe methodology of this thesis is depicted in this section. It follows an analytical mode of explanation building grounded in realism theory. To increase the conclusion of this case study’s validity, data triangulation is employed. This comprises of the employment of several types of data at once.

2.1 Case studyThis thesis depicts a case study of the Afghanistan military and the main concern is whether the military is considered strong enough to assist the newly elected president. The research design of this thesis is a case study that is explanatory in nature. The topic was chosen based on the following criteria: The author of this subject matter considered the topic interesting. Additionally, little research is done on the topic. Hence the author desired to find out more on the subject matter. The foremost reason as to why there is research on this topic is that there is lack of information on the topic. Having seen the gap in this subject matter, the author carried out research on the topic.

The realist theory was employed as the theoretical foundation of the subject matter. The US foreign policy in Afghanistan together with the various interests in play in this state all relate to the theory. Realists argue that politics is all about the struggles that go on amongst the powers at play. The anarchical state of nature that exists in Afghanistan is an environment conductive too the interests of realism to be manifested. In this theory, various nation states always feel uneasy amongst other nation states hence may opt to employ the military to frighten other nation states hence advance their own interests (Doughert and Pfaltzqraff, 1996). In this case, Pakistan and other nations like India have been able to support insurgent groups to destabilize Afghanistan for their own selfish interests.

The September 11 attacks in the US have made Americans behave with a sense of animosity towards the Afghan people. Hence, they employed direct military actions, deterrence as well as forced diplomacy to defend themselves. In addition, the US seeks to ensure that there is balance of power and that no leader that is reckless takes power in Afghanistan (Girardet, 126-29). Military response was employed in Afghanistan by the US to take care of the terrorism issue. This is what has destabilized Afghanistan until now, as the insurgent groups do not desire the western influence in their nation state. Under former president George Bush’s command, the US leadership believed that the war in Afghanistan was both bad and good (Pillar, 2003). Furthermore, the death of Osama bin Laden would be the only solution to end the crisis of terrorism in Afghan, it was believed. The US began to threaten other states that supported Afghan terrorists. These nation states were mainly North Korea, Iran as well as Iraq. The entire globe was engaged in the realist approach of ensuring that the states were free from terrorism.

While the Afghan war is deemed to be a war to top the Taliban regime, there is still a war against the Al-Qaeda. In this case, the realist approach cannot be employed when the war is between a state and a non-state actor; like Al-Qaeda (Rubin, 1995). To explain this war, the realist theory is wanting in areas that involve the solutions to be employed in resolving the terrorism issue in Afghan. This is because attacking terrorists will only result in the advancement of suicide bombers as well as martyrs. Hence, the civilians will be the victims of the war that may exist between these two actors. Another point would be that the US attempted to gain support from the UN and needed to work with NATO. In the realism theory, states do not seek support from international regimes. This is especially hen they feel they are threatened by other nation states (Taylor, 2010). In the Afghan situation, America discovered that a state may require the assistance of other nations to be able to legitimize their behavior. Furthermore, there ought to be a share of the cost of the war involved in stopping terrorism. Realists do not place their emphasis on the domestic affairs of the nation state in concern. In addition, their foreign policy does not feature in any way in the foreign policy. However, the employment of power to solve problems has been the main issue in Afghanistan and that has been able to support the realist theory.

The case study is split into two main parts: one section will be on Afghanistan before the coming of the Soviets while the other will look into life after the Soviet’s departure. Yin purports that there are three types of case studies (Yin 2009). For instance, the explanatory case study focuses on explaining the why as well as the how questions. In this case study, we look into the why there will be instability after the NATO departure from Afghanistan and how this can be curtailed.

2.1.1 Building of ExplanationsA technique dubbed analytical would be most suitable for this case study. In this case, data is analyzed by the author by building various explanations regarding the case given. Giving explanations on the phenomena may require knowing a presumed set of connections on the reasons why what happened took place (Yin 2009). This may not be deemed as the easiest method because the various casual connections that the author may choose may be too complex. In addition, the links may be hard to measure exactly. Therefore, this thesis is mainly premised on the realist theory despite the fact that this theory does not fully explain the various phenomena that may have occurred in the history of Afghanistan. By beginning the analytical chapter with the reasons as to why the security in Afghanistan will fail after elections, this will assist in making very precise conclusions on the matter. In narrative form explanation building may prove to be very challenging and thus this thesis has avoided to ground itself on the theoretical arguments on Afghanistan security.

2.1.2 Data TriangulationThis explanatory case study of Afghanistan has been conducted as follows: Through explanation building technique, there have been grounded theoretical arguments on the topic. This has been illustrated as one of the main strengths that a case study has. Case studies are able to increase the conclusion’s strength (Pattson, 2002).

Multiple sources of data may be employed for the researcher to construct an interpretation of events that is more valid. This thesis has been able to employ diverse kinds of data to be able to strengthen the conclusion. Examples of the data that have been employed are books, newspaper articles and academic articles. The employment of newspaper to gather information on the subject matter may however, raise issues on the legitimacy and the preciseness of the information received. Nevertheless, the many articles as well as book that have been employed renowned scholars may assist in negating the concerns that have been raised on validity and objectivity. Moreover, this thesis has been able to employ various sources to increase the validity of the sources of information.

3.0 Theoretical DiscussionsThis section looks into and discusses the theoretical foundations of this thesis. This thesis concerns Afghan elections and whether the security present will be able to handle the president who will be elected in office. This part of the thesis will illustrate the various debates that have been raised concerning the issue and also take a position on the situation in Afghanistan.

3.1.1 Afghanistan and security issuesThe administration of Afghanistan has been in hand of foreigners since 2001 when the United Nation aided it to end Taliban’s reign and develop a sovereign government. Several attacks that followed before and after development of the new government pushed U.S. government into deploying their security in the country to ensure internal security to the Afghan citizens and other United Nation workers who were assisting in the Nation (United Nations General Assembly Security Council, 2010). Since then, the U.S. military has been assisting in Afghanistan and it is anticipated in two years to come, to withdraw its military to give the Afghan government a chance to have a full control of its country. However, there are still more question regarding the power of Afghan government to run the nation. This section contains a review of various materials to establish the strength of the government to learn the nation. Among the discussed issues, include the state’s sovereignty, the dependency of the state on foreign aids, the democracy in the state and the proposed reforms.

History of Afghanistan AuthorityDespite the fact that this nation has had diverse regimes that have upheld different perspectives, the governing structure in Afghan has always been weak. The government has been unable to put in place vital administrative as well as financial institutions on the ethnic communities that exist in Afghanistan (Dewing, 2007). Many people in this nation are divided by mountains increasing the anxiety between the Afghan central government and the urban dwellers. Afghanistan has had democratic institutions formed in the western style. Under the fiscal year 1964 Afghan constitution, King Zahir was set as the constitutional monarch whose rein was short lived

As landlocked nation state in the central part of Asia, Afghanistan has no navy. The Afghan president is the military’s commander in chief acting through Defense Ministry. The headquarters of the Military’s National Command center in Afghan based in Kabul. Currently, the Afghan military has over 20,000 soldiers and by the fiscal year 2015, the figure will have risen by 260,000 (Browne, 2010). Originally, the military comes from the Hotaki dynasty in 1709. This military has been able to combat through many battles with India and Persia from the 18th to 19 century. The second Afghan war with the British occurred in 1880. In 1880, the British were able to reorganize it when Amir Khan headed it. However, during King Amanullah Khan’s the military underwent upgrading (Barfield, 2010). In the past, the Afghan government depended on the community militias, regular army as well as the tribal levies as institutions of military. The state sustained the usual army while the government leaders controlled it (Robson, 2007). The militia of the community was mainly comprised of men who had able bodied who were mobilized for combat.

In 1919, Afghanistan fought with Britain. The British saw as a threat to take over India. Additionally, the British feared that Russia’s collaboration with the Afghans would result in chaos. During this period, the Afghan army was not strong and possessed 50,000 men (Cook, 1987). The men in these armies were arranged 75 infantry battalions and 21 Calvary regiments. Furthermore, they possessed approximately 280 up to date missiles pieces. The Afghans also ensured that the 80000 front line tribesmen and other local militia under the command of the British were employed to tame the Afghan army. Like the present times, the armies lacked training, and were not paid well. Furthermore, they had shortage of supply and the distribution of the weapons also proved to be challenging.

1978: The Soviet Union and AfghanistanThe leaders in Afghan attempted to free themselves from the influences of foreigners. Its geographic, political as well as economic aspects were significant to the Soviet Union. From 1978 to 1992, the Afghanistan army was backed up by the Soviet Union. This was a period called The Cold War. This army was backed by the Soviets to fight the mujahidin multinational funded faction (Girardet, 128-29). This faction was funded by both America and Saudi Arabia. The military was then trained by the Armed forces in Pakistan (Tharoor, 2009). The Soviet deployed the Afghan’s 40th army in 1979. The Saur Revolution led to the creation of Afghanistan nation as a state. The government in this time had close ties with the Soviet Union as the Russians had supported Afghanistan from the Tsarist era (Amstutz, 1986). Various incidences like the Panjdeh Incident in 1885 were a military conflict in the southern part of the Oxus River to seize it. The Russians sent military as well as economic aid to this region during this region (Rubin, 1995). The Soviets influenced the politics as well as the military structure of the Afghan people. In addition, their military was trained in Russia. The nuclear test in India resulted in President Khan building up its military. This was to be able to counteract the influence that both Pakistan and Iran had on the Afghan military.

In 1978, the government of Afghan signed a treaty that made them be able to call the Soviets whenever they had rebels. However, the results of this war was that the reforms made by the Soviets resulted in civil wars in Afghanistan (Zakaria, 2010). The leaders in Afghanistan fought to be in power and to be free from external interference. They also attempted to become friends with other powers in the world to gain economic, political as well as military gains. The Soviet influence resulted in the disintegration of Afghan in the internal organization and the nation was devoid of a central government. In addition, Afghan lacks ruling entities that are powerful enough to influence the decisions of the government (Barfield, 2010). Tribal factions like Muhajadeen had already created their own territory through which they fought the Soviets. The Soviets left a power vacuum when they left Afghanistan after their defeat. This resulted in various foreigners coming to influence the affairs of Afghan. In addition, the war destroyed the various cultural institutions as well as Afghan society.

The Taliban: From fiscal year 1994-2001The Taliban came into being in the midst of all the chaos as well as the war that existed in Afghan. The group was able to promise stability as well as peace to the entire Afghan (Tharoor, 2009). This was because the group was tired of war in the state. Consequently, the civilian population in Afghan welcomed the Taliban with the hope that they would make the destructions end. However, in 1995, this group betrayed the hopes of the people, as they became the most lawless group that has ever existed in Afghanistan (Nojumi, 2002). In 1996, this group was able to capture Kabul and overthrow the authority that was in that place. The lack of the government resulted in Massoud joining the Northern alliance, which was formed to combat the Taliban.

The Taliban were left in charge of the Kabul because the Northern alliance went to the North of Afghanistan. This group was formed by the service intelligence in Pakistan. This intelligence service employed the Taliban to create an Afghan government that would favor Pakistan’s agenda (Taylor, 2010). Hence, the Pakistanis have been able to provide logistical, military as well as financial support to the Taliban. The Afghan government too started to implement the Islamic values on the day-to-day life of the students. There were no radios, alcohol as well as televisions and any defiance would make the person go through floggings and execution (Griffin, 2000). The women in this society were not treated as human beings and polygamy was encouraged amongst the men. Prostitution has a serious legal outcome and not all women could be able to come out without being accompanied by a male relative. The Taliban were hostile to any western or external influence.

The Taliban began a culture that ensured the restoration of the conservatism culture in Afghan. This culture was anti-American policies and ensured that young children underwent the madrassas (Griffin, 2000). This was to make sure that the children learn the Islamic culture as opposed to the western ideals. The foreign influence in Afghanistan ensured that the Taliban continued to be in power as they fought to destroy the western values.

Afghanistan sovereigntyThe capability as well as the accountability of governance in Afghanistan is vital for ensuring that there is great success during the planned transition from the NATO forces to the newly elected leadership in Afghanistan (Katzman, 2010). Since the Taliban regime came to an end, the capacity of the governing structure in Afghanistan has increased. However, there is still nepotism as well as corruption that have been prevalent. The Afghan president has accepted that the American government forms various institutions of anticorruption in the nation state. These institutions have been the main source of conflict during Karzai’s regime (Dewing, 2007). Despite the weak governmental structure, Karzai has attempted to ensure that the authority is concentrated in Kabul. The Afghan 2014 elections have raised various concerns on what will become of the nation-state when NATO and the US hand over power to the Afghan people. This is because there are so many power structures that are informal which comprise of both regional as well as ethnic leaders (United States Mission to NATO, 2010). These leaders have been a major component while looking into the formal structure of power in Afghanistan.

In the past years two proceedings have changed the focus of determination to stabilize Afghan as deadline for U.S. government to drawdown its force approaches. Initially, the Afghan president announced that his country would fully take responsibility for security and sovereignty by the end of 2014 (Kesselman, 2009). The NATO conference held on November 2010 in Lisbon confirmed this standard for full change to Afghan sovereignty and long term pledge to strong association beyond 2014. Although there are specific caveats concerning conditions-based choices concerning the benchmarks, the time frame needs to guide the Afghan government, regional partners, and the International Security Association Planning strateg