Afghan president wants to defer signing of US deal
Print Edition
Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged tribal elders yesterday to support a security deal with the United States that would keep thousands of American troops in his country for another decade.
However, Karzai said he didn’t trust the Americans and would defer the signing ceremony to his successor in next year’s presidential elections. That would give more time to test US intentions, he said.
In a last-minute bid to bolster support, President Barack Obama sent a letter promising that the US will continue to respect “Afghan sovereignty” and promised that the US military will not conduct raids on Afghan homes except under “extraordinary circumstances,” involving urgent risks to US nationals. The statement referred to compromises made in the draft text of the agreement.
Obama also said “we look forward to concluding this agreement promptly.”
Karzai’s statement came in his inaugural speech to the Loya Jirga, a consultative council of elders and other dignitaries who hold the power to force changes or entirely derail the pact. He also read Obama’s letter.
The United States has said it will pull all its forces out Afghanistan without a deal, as it did when Iraq also failed to sign a similar agreement.
America’s allies have also said they will not remain without a US presence, which would jeopardize more than US$8 billion annually to fund the Afghan security forces and help with Afghanistan’s development after 2014.
A signed accord will also mean that about 8,000 US troops could stay in Afghanistan for an additional 10 years, which is the duration of the Bilateral Security agreement. Although their main role will be to train and assist, a small number of US forces will continue to hunt al-Qaida members.
America invaded Afghanistan shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States to go after al-Qaida, which was being sheltered in Afghanistan by the Taliban. But the longest and costliest war in US history has proven deeply unpopular at home and among US allies.
Karzai said the deal would pave the way for 10,000 to 15,000 US troops to stay in the country after the NATO combat mission ends at the end of 2014 and give the US nine bases around the country that it can use.
Karzai’s suggestion to push the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement until after the April 5 elections could be a deal breaker since the US wants an agreement as soon as possible to allow for preparations to maintain a military presence after 2014, when the majority of foreign combat forces will have left Afghanistan.
The US had wanted a deal signed by the end of October.
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