Liberian fighting force prepared to find thrust from the people they servered. Army base. Gbarnga, Bong County, Liberia. (Photo form Flickr)I Built An African Army -- Foreign Policy
Now here's what it will take to build Afghanistan's.
In May 2004, I was hired for an unusual job: The U.S. State Department contracted DynCorp International, a private military company, to build Liberia's army. I was tapped as an architect of this new force. Previously I had worked for both the U.S. military and Amnesty International. I was a rare bird -- an ex-paratrooper and human rights defender -- and thus a good fit for this unprecedented task.
When I arrived in Liberia in 2004, the country's army was, at best, a mess. After decades of civil war, soldiers' hands were as bloodied as any rebels'. The troops were undisciplined, unpaid, and undertrained. They were a motley crew that protected no one in a country where pretty much everyone was vulnerable to violence. And it was our job to turn them into a professional military.
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My Comment: I was captivated by this piece from Foreign Policy because I have always looked at Africa as a basket case when it came to training and equipping a modern and professional army. It appears that there is hope .... and if done right a professional army can rise from the ashes .... even from a place like Liberia .... and maybe (a big maybe) from Afghanistan.