AFGHAN ARMY

That this House notes that during a recent conflict in which seven Taliban attacked a convoy defended by 300 Afghan soldiers, the majority of the soldiers fled; is concerned that Afghan General Jabbar Karaman said that Afghan soldiers do not believe in the government or the system of the international community; recalls the hon. Member for Pontypridd's account of another 24-hour battle in which an Afghan force changed sides three times; believes that the Afghan Army are unreliable mercenaries dependent on illegal drugs and who are reluctant to risk their own lives or to slaughter brother Afghans in the causes of a corrupt president or foreign powers; notes that one-quarter of soldiers desert each year, many to the Taliban; and questions the hope that an effective security force can be built on this collapsing foundation.