Afghans cannot afford to set up security force

A former U.S. ambassador to Kabul of Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, on Monday said setting up a national security force will cost the Afghan government almost three times as much as it collects in revenue. Eikenberry, also a retired U.S. general, is visiting Canberra of Australia. He said Australia, U.S. and other nations have made great progress in training the Afghan security forces, but building an effective force will be expensive, as the near 7 billion U.S. dollars annual cost for the force would dwarf the 2.5 billion U.S. dollars the government receives in revenue. "There's a significant shortfall and that will be incumbent then upon the U.S. and our allies and other countries ... to pay for those resource shortfalls," General Eikenberry told reporters in Canberra on Monday. General Eikenberry said while there was a foundation in Afghanistan, but increasingly it was a question of political will and collective ability to translate the advantages given the country into lasting political and lasting economic effects. Afghanistan and the international community have set 2014 for a transition to full local security responsibility, and Australia has promised an ongoing but reduced military presence and aid from 2014.