Members of the Afghan National Army and the security forces are getting bigger paychecks, in large part, to help keep pace with what the Taliban is paying its own foot soldiers. While there isn't exactly a published pay schedule for the Taliban, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan says intelligence indicates that those working for the Taliban are believed to be getting about $300 a month.
On a flight to Iraq, Gates described this statistic as a real "eye opener" for him. "The police are particularly poorly paid," Gates told reporters this week while en route to Afghanistan. "But even the army is less well paid."
David Quillen, AFP / Getty Images
Afghan National Army soldiers standing during a ceremony held at Camp Black Horse in Kabul in November.
Until recently, soldiers in the Afghan National Army were getting just a bit over a $100 a month, which was itself an improvement over initial pay of $30, according to an official Web site. With the help of the United States, Afghanistan is now raising pay and adding "additional incentives and bonuses," Gates says.
New recruits in some of the worst areas, like Helmand, Ghazni and Kunduz, will earn twice what they're earning now, or about $240, according to the Armed Forces Press Service. In more peaceful areas, it will be less, but still an improvement over current pay.
But will that be enough?
Over many years of conflict, Afghan warlords were notorious for switching sides when money was involved. Indeed, the first Americans to enter Afghanistan after 9/11 -- the CIA jawbreaker team -- flew in on a Russian helicopter loaded with $10 million in cash.
Even if the salaries are increased now, the question will become whether this can be sustained indefinitely. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has already said the country will need outside assistance to pay for its military through 2024. That number isn't a total surprise, given that the nation's budget in 2009 was less than $900 million, according to the CIA Factbook.
The Taliban, for its part, doesn't seem to have problems generating cash. A recent Washington Post article reports that the Taliban has "built a fundraising juggernaut that generates cash from such an array of criminal rackets, donations, taxes, shakedowns and other schemes ..."
The good news is that, at least for now, the cash is working. Recruits to the Afghan army have risen dramatically since the pay increase went into effect. Now the question is how long will they last.
