“No shortcuts to fighting corruption,” says Clinton
In a landmark conference held in Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that by 2014, security operations will be under Afghan control. “Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) should lead and conduct military operations in all provinces by the end of 2014,” Reuters quoted the communique as saying. At the beginning of the conference, Karzai said that a board will review the 34 provinces to see which ones were ready for Afghan forces to take control from 2011 onwards. To make up for the loss of 150,000 NATO-led troops from Afghanistan, Karzai plans to build up the national army to 170,000 soldiers, and the police by 134,000 officers by October 2011. Critics say that Afghanistan won’t have a sufficient number of acceptable troops and that 2014 timeline is too soon. However, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who co-hosted the conference, was optimistic saying that the tangible plans are a good sign.