Why the U.S. military can’t succeed in training foreign armies

Author Lawrence Korb argues that it is lack of motivation rather than lack of sufficient training that has caused the failures of U.S.-trained foreign militaries in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

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It was big news last month when 7,000 U.S.-trained and -equipped Afghan security troops failed to defend the northern city of Kunduz against a far smaller Taliban force. Yet the setback is just the latest indication of American-trained foreign troops’ continuing inability to fight effectively on their own.

It should not have been surprising. Washington experienced this last year in Iraq. The United States spent $25 billion training and equipping a large Iraqi force, which then threw down its weapons and abandoned two key cities, Mosul and Ramadi, to Islamic State militants. Between 800 and 1,000 Islamic State fighters defeated 30,000 Iraqi troops.

The above excerpt was originally published in Reuters. Click here to view the full article.

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