Cover of “No Going Backward”: Afghanistan’s Post–Peace Accord Security Sector Peaceworks Report

another key to preparing for a post–peace agree- The international examples adduced in support of the ment afghanistan is to start now the dialogue among recommendations tend toward the relatively modest afghans—including both the Islamic republic of metric of a negative peace, or staving off a return to afghanistan and the Taliban sides—and their securi- civil war, with the hope that mitigation o. [...] Managing expectations and planning should begin even while negotiations take shape, with an eye to The afghan government should heed the lessons retaining and even improving the current capability of learned from afghanistan’s past and from other and public trust in the aNDSF, to ensure the long-term post-conflict situations in forming a security sector strat- viability of the security sector. [...] should not have the legal authority to engage in policing, particularly with respect to arresting suspects and con- Of all the components of the aNSDF, the MOI like- veying evidence to the criminal justice system, so aNa ly has the most work ahead of it in a post-settlement personnel cannot perform the duties that will be needed. [...] Sustaining this terial-level engagement will be critical to preserving the change in culture requires recognition in the form of hard-won advances in SOF capabilities.86 satisfactory benefits and public stature for the police, who lack the career stability and recognition of the mil- While the capabilities of the MOD and MOI outside the itary. [...] dence in the afghan security sector, as US and other donor inspection reports underscore.97 The aNa-Territorial Force (aNa-TF), now eighty-three companies strong and with an end goal of 105 units, a third factor is the need for the security forces to can function like the US National Guard and reserve remain politically neutral in the future, irrespective of the system.