Afghan Senators Say Retiring ‘Experienced’ Generals ‘Betrayal’ to Army

A number of Afghan senators criticized the President Ashraf Ghani’s decision over retiring the “experienced” generals, called it “betrayal” to the national army.

The senators stressed the decision was a move for politicization of the army and warned that it could be “very harmful” for Afghan military in the future.

“Retiring key generals is betrayal for national army and the presence of these generals and officers are seriously needed in Afghan military,” said Senator Sher Mohammad Akhundzada. Adding that the government should withdraw from the decision.

“Appointing young and unexperienced personnel in the army should not be defined for the replacement of experienced generals,” said Senator Safiullah Hashimi. “[The move] shows that it is more of politics and they want to publicize the national army,” he added.

The Deputy Speaker of the Mishrano Jirga (Senate House), however, considered the President’s decree for the retirement of generals “illegal”.

 “The Intrinsic Law of Officers is there, and the President does not have the right to issue a decree in regard,” said Mohammad Izediyar. “Under the current situation the debate on retirement is not in favor of Afghan security forces. We are in a critical situation and it will increase problems in military sector,” he added.

 President Ghani has said that he has retired over 150 generals in the last two years, considering the move critical to sustainability of the army.

“They had done their service, they had served their country. But they were being extended beyond the law. So I have put a stop to this. Reorganizing our forces is critical to sustainability. We cannot shift the burden again,” he said in May, while speaking to American TIME.com

By Shakib Mahmud and Rafi Sediqi