From the New York Times: Two and a half years after it was started, the European Union’s police training mission in Afghanistan is understaffed, lacks adequate security and transportation, and has yet to develop a uniform training program, according to diplomats and security experts involved in the mission.

“The E.U. mission is a logistical nightmare,” said Piotr Krawczyk, a security expert at the Polish Institute of International Affairs and former deputy head of the Polish Embassy in Kabul. “There is complete lack of coordination between the E.U. institutions in Afghanistan and between the other big players, including the United Nations and NATO…”

This sense of frustration was expressed in an unusually blunt letter written three weeks ago by Mr. [Javier] Solana and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency. The letter, sent to all of the bloc’s foreign, defense and interior ministers, criticized member states for failing to provide the necessary personnel.

“The mission is long overdue. It remains significantly short of staff,” they wrote. They added that “an additional 130 well-trained men and women, mainly police officers, and more logistical support to deploy outside Kabul across the country” were needed. “Now more than ever, it is essential that we redress this. All member states can do more,” they added. (photo: DPA)