WASHINGTON  - The United States and its allies are expected to raise $15 billion for the Afghan National Defense and Security (ANDSF) in the NATO summit scheduled for next month in Warsaw, it has been reported.
The funds will be raised with an aim to fund ANDSF through 2020 as they face a resurgent Taliban following the full transfer of security responsibilities by the NATO-led coalition forces at the start of last year.
The majority of the funds would be arranged by the United States that would include about $10 billion.
Efforts to raise billions of Dollars more for the Afghan forces comes amid concerns regarding the massive waste of the funds in the past 15 years.
However, Maj. Gen. Gordon “Skip” Davis Jr., commander of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, which oversees coalition support for Afghan security forces, has told The Washington Post that NATO leaders will probably not link the money to new benchmarks or anti-corruption standards for the Afghan military.
According to the paper, the U.S.-led coalition, for example, will still seek to fund 352,000 Afghan soldiers and police — even though auditors have repeatedly questioned whether Afghanistan has that many security personnel.
“There was discussion last year about having some specific benchmarks before the Warsaw summit, but I think the allies felt it was impractical,” said Davis, adding that it would have taken months to agree on what new strings should be placed on the money. “There just wasn’t enough time.”
Davis further added that the NATO leaders have confidence in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to safeguard the international community’s money. He also thinks that Afghan security forces can operate effectively under existing performance goals.
According to Davis, the NATO leaders will most likely recommend keeping 9,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan into next year, although it’s unclear how many of them will be American.(KP)