Afghanistan Rebuffs U.S. Demand To Sign Security Pact
Source: By Agence France-Presse
By Agence France-Presse
Friday, November 22, 2013 10:55 EST
Afghanistan on Friday rebuffed a US demand to sign a highly anticipated security pact as soon as possible, insisting the document must wait until after next years presidential election.
Washington warned Kabul on Thursday to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) as soon as possible, with senior officials hinting that delaying beyond the end of this year could mean no post-2014 US troop presence.
The latest US run-in with President Hamid Karzai was set off by the Afghan leader saying the painstakingly negotiated deal would not be signed until after the election in April.
US officials bristled, saying the pact, which governs the conditions of any post-war American counter-terrorism and training mission in Afghanistan, must be signed by the end of the year.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/22/afghanistan-rebuffs-u-s-demand-to-sign-security-pact/
Good! Bring our troops home...
lark
(23,003 posts)Let ALL war related US troops and personnel come home. We can't police the world and shouldn't even try.
penndragon69
(788 posts)Time to take all our marbles and go home, let the country destroy
itself from within.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)BlueToTheBone
(3,747 posts)you war monger and death dealer.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)By all means, delay!
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)after 1 1/4 terms of the President that told us we shouldn't be there? So the argument would be what? Congressional repigs would crucify him or make his life harder? Oh sure because until now it's been a cake walk.
Afghanistan, I am so over you.
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)if the citizens of this nation were polled, the OVERWHELMING consensus would be for us to GET OUT - and get out now. But it's a decision for our corporate-owned - warmongering-advised elite to decide. FUCK what the people want. Fuck our many needs here at home. We have a God-driven duty to make sure the Afghanis don't quarrel amongst themselves or make a hard-scrabble existence out of providing heroin to a hungry world market. Yeah - that's what I lie awake worrying about each night - Afghani welfare!
okaawhatever
(9,453 posts)They are afraid if we leave, the current military will turn into the same corrupt inefficient folks they had when the Taliban took over. I think Karzai and others want more trained personnel ready to protect the country from terrorists both domestic and foreign.
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)military is not my concern. It has little to do with the mind set of terrorist anyway. They aren't being terrorist because we are in Afghanistan. They are being terrorist because we continue to inject our silly noses into their business. When you insert your nose into someone else business don't be shocked when they punch you.
EX500rider
(10,518 posts)No......the Taliban have and always will be a fundamental religious terrorist outfit. The way they ran Afghanistan without any interference from us was both horrible and shocking.
Without even going into their fun stadium necktie parties and love of large ancient religious statues we have stuff like:
"1998-the Taliban launched an attack on Mazar-i Sharif. Of 1500 defenders only 100 survived the engagement. Once in control the Taliban began to kill people indiscriminately. At first shooting people in the street, they soon began to target Hazaras. Women were raped, and thousands of people were locked in containers and left to suffocate. "
"The city of Istalif was home to more than 45,000 people. In Istalif the Taliban gave 24 hours notice to the population to leave, then completely razed the town leaving the people destitute."
"Several Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders ran a network of human trafficking, abducting women and selling them into sex slavery in Afghanistan and Pakistan.The targets for human trafficking were especially women from the Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara and other ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Some women preferred to commit suicide over slavery, killing themselves. During one Taliban and Al-Qaeda offensive in 1999 in the Shomali Plains alone, more than 600 women were kidnapped.Taliban as well as Arab and Pakistani Al-Qaeda militants forced them into trucks and buses.Time Magazine writes: "The trail of the missing Shomali women leads to Jalalabad, not far from the Pakistan border. There, according to eyewitnesses, the women were penned up inside Sar Shahi camp in the desert. The more desirable among them were selected and taken away. Some were trucked to Peshawar with the apparent complicity of Pakistani border guards. Others were taken to Khost, where bin Laden had several training camps." Officials from relief agencies say, the trail of many of the vanished women leads to Pakistan where they were sold to brothels or into private households to be kept as slaves."
"To PHR's knowledge, no other regime in the world has methodically and violently forced half of its population into virtual house arrest, prohibiting them on pain of physical punishment.Physicians for Human Rights, 1998"
"In 1998, the United Nations accused the Taliban of denying emergency food by the UN's World Food Programme to 160,000 hungry and starving people "for political and military reasons""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban#Massacre_campaigns
I would prefer the UN stepped in with major development aid and a military stabilization/peacekeeping plan then we just leave Afghanistan to it's own devices again. Which didn't work out so well last time we dropped them like a hot potato. I have seen many times the complaint that we were the problem that lead to the Taliban by withdrawing help and aid to the Mujahideen after the Soviets withdrew. Repeating that seems like a bad idea. If the UN is no help (most likely) I would think a small UAV/Special Forces camp with a B-52/B-1 on call, letting the locals do most of the heavy lifting and continued training of the local police and military would be a good idea to keep the Taliban and AQ from taking over again.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)The two points of contention:
"The letter released by Karzais office said US forces would not enter Afghan homes for military operations except under extraordinary circumstances involving urgent risk to life and limb of US nationals."
"A draft text released by Kabul Wednesday appeared to show Karzai had bowed to a US demand that American troops would not be tried in local courts if they are accused of crimes."
I am guessing the election results would show that most Afghans would not be ok with this. Would anyone in any country?
Unfortunately, they get to choose between being abused by the Taliban or being abused by the US military. It will be a tough election.
FairWinds
(1,717 posts)that the U.S. under Reagan trashed Afghanistan by covertly creating and arming Al Qaeda
to fight the Russians (who are also not blameless). Afghanistan was working reasonably well
prior to that.
Those who designed and carried out those crimes against humanity need to face prosecution.
But of course, a continued military occupation by the U.S. is not the answer either.
Support the troops - bring them home !!
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Washington warned , must be signed by the end of the year etc etc.
Best just deal with it.
former9thward
(31,802 posts)Their refusal to sign may be the only way the U.S. is forced out of that country.