Afstan: Jan. 28 international conference/ANA, ANP training

News summary from Foreign Policy's AfPak "Daily brief" (note Japanese pull-out):

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British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters that the upcoming January 28 conference on Afghanistan to be held in London will focus on a number of issues such as anti-corruption efforts and training for the Afghan National Army, but will not attempt to lobby for more troops or money for Afghanistan (WSJ). At the conference Britain also intends to propose an "international trust fund" to pay Taliban fighters who agree to lay down their weapons (Guardian). Japan has pledged $5 billion for police training and Taliban reintegration before the conference, as they finish their eight-year long naval refueling operation for the Afghan war today (Reuters, AP)

The U.S. general in charge of training Afghan police delivered a stinging critique of the process so far, saying that it has been poorly-resourced, poorly planned, and requires immediate, sweeping reforms (Independent). Lt. Gen. Bill Caldwell IV said that these reforms would include a new training scheme to ensure a more professional police force, and an emphasis on producing quality rather than quantity policemen...

And from the "Daily brief" yesterday:

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Sen. Carl Levin, the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters yesterday, on the first visit by Senate Democrats to Afghanistan since the Obama administration announced that it will send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to the country, that Afghanistan faces a major shortage of military trainers needed to help stand up the Afghan security forces -- saying that the U.S. only has "about 37 percent of the trainers" needed (AP, McClatchy, Reuters, Politico). Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota is also on the trip.

Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, who heads NATO's training mission in Afghanistan, said earlier today that the Pentagon has authorized the expansion of training the Afghan security forces, in order to increase the Afghan National Army from its current size of 102,400 personnel to 171,600 by October 2011, and the Afghan National Police from 96,800 to 134,000 in 2011 (NYT). Previously, the ANA's goal was 159,000 soldiers and the ANP's 123,000 policemen by 2011...