Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Endless Afghanistan?

  1. #1

    Endless Afghanistan?

    By Richard Engel, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent


    KABUL – While many Americans have been led to believe the war in Afghanistan will soon be over, a draft of a key U.S.-Afghan security deal obtained by NBC News shows the United States is prepared to maintain military outposts in Afghanistan for many years to come, and pay to support hundreds of thousands of Afghan security forces.


    The wide-ranging document, still unsigned by the United States and Afghanistan, has the potential to commit thousands of American troops to Afghanistan and spend billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.


    The document outlines what appears to be the start of a new, open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan in the name of training and continuing to fight al-Qaeda. The war in Afghanistan doesn’t seem to be ending, but renewed under new, scaled-down U.S.-Afghan terms.


    “The Parties acknowledge that continued U.S. military operations to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates may be appropriate and agree to continue their close cooperation and coordination toward that end,” the draft states.


    According to a document obtained by NBC News, the war in Afghanistan may not be over for years to come. NBC's Richard Engel reports.



    The 25-page “Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement Between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” is a sweeping document, vague in places, highly specific in others, defining everything from the types of future missions U.S. troops would be allowed to conduct in Afghanistan, to the use of radios and the taxation of American soldiers and contractors.


    The bilateral security agreement will be debated this week in Kabul by around 2,500 village elders, academics and officials in a traditional Loya Jirga. While the Loya Jirga is strictly consultative, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he won’t sign it without the Jirga’s approval.


    The copy of the draft -- the full text is available here -- is dated July 25, 2013. As a working draft, it is particularly revealing because it shows the back and forth negotiations, as U.S. and Afghan officials added words and struck out paragraphs. The changes are marked by annotations still revealed in the text.

    The document is a work in progress. US officials say there have been more changes since July. The draft, however, does indicate the scope of this possible agreement with major implications for Washington, Kabul, U.S. troops and the continuation of America’s longest war.


    Taken as a whole, the document describes a basic U.S.-Afghan exchange. Afghanistan would allow Washington to operate military bases to train Afghan forces and conduct counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda after the current mission ends in 2014. For that foothold in this volatile mountain region wedged between Pakistan and Iran, the United States would agree to sustain and equip Afghanistan's large security force, which the government in Kabul currently cannot afford. The deal, according to the text, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2015 and “shall remain in force until the end of 2024 and beyond.” It could be terminated by either Washington or Kabul with two years advance written notice.


    There is however what U.S. officials believe is a contradiction in the July draft, which would effectively ask American troops to provide training and confront al-Qaeda from the confines of bases. While it says operations against al-Qaeda may be necessary, it also says US troops will not be allowed to make arrests or enter Afghan homes.


    “No detention or arrest shall be carried out by the United States forces. The United States forces shall not search any homes or other real estate properties,” it says.


    “[The contradiction] was a matter of serious consternation at the highest levels” of the Obama administration over the weekend, according to one senior defense official. “It is the one remaining issue that could ultimately kill the deal." However, US officials believe that in a more recent draft, which was circulated among key Pentagon officials and US lawmakers on Monday, the US has won its position on this point.


    The document doesn’t specifically say how many U.S. and NATO troops would remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014. Afghan officials tell NBC News they hope it will be 10 to 15 thousand. U.S. officials tell NBC News the number is closer to seven to eight thousand, with an additional contribution from NATO.

    Factoring in troop rotations, home leave, and breaks between deployments, the service of tens of thousands of American troops would be required to maintain a force of seven to eight thousand for a decade or longer. The anticipated costs would likely run into the billions quickly.


    Afghan officials tell NBC NEWS the agreement is critical to Afghanistan’s future stability. Without ongoing military assistance, training and funding, those officials say the government could collapse and Afghanistan would enter a civil war. If the agreement passes, the draft says Washington would commit to a long -term, indefinite military involvement in this land-locked Asian nation.


    A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council did not comment on the draft version of the agreement, but said that "the President is still reviewing options from his national security team and has not made a decision about a possible U.S. presence after 2014."


    The agreement circulating this week is unlikely to be the last. It first must pass through the Loya Jirga, then go onto parliament for final approval. “We’re looking at 60-days or more” before the US and Afghanistan sign any agreement, defense officials said.


    Here are highlights of the July draft of the bi-lateral agreement:


    American bases

    While the document specifically says the United States would not seek “permanent bases” in Afghanistan, the US military would have “access to and use of the agreed facilities and areas.” Some of these areas would be for the “exclusive use” of US troops.


    “Afghanistan hereby authorizes United States forces to exercise all rights and authorities within the agreed facilities and areas that are necessary for their use, operation, defense, or control, including the right to undertake new construction works,” the document says.


    US troops would be allowed to carry weapons, wear uniforms and guard the perimeter of those areas. The agreement does not say how many “exclusive use” sites there would be in Afghanistan. The United States also would also be permitted to keep vehicles and aircraft in Afghanistan, take off and land from Afghan soil, and fly though Afghan airspace. The facilities would be provided the US government “rent free,” but significant costs would mount in other ways.


    U.S. payments

    The draft agreement says the Afghan government should “eventually” pay for all of its defense and security personal. But until then, “so long as the strategic partnership agreement so provides, the United States shall have an obligation to seek funds on a yearly basis to support the training, equipping, advising and sustaining of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), so that Afghanistan can independently secure and defend itself against internal and external threats, and help ensure that terrorists never again encroach on Afghan soil and threaten Afghanistan, the region, and the world.” The specific amount of payment is not stated. The money would be “managed by relevant Afghan institutions.”


    Sticking points

    The document shows a long and hard series of negotiations, particularly on the issue of legal jurisdiction. The draft initially insisted that U.S. military personnel be subject to Afghan laws and, if accused of a crime, be tried in Afghan courts. This section in the July draft is crossed out. Afghan officials tell NBC NEWS the jurisdiction dispute appears to have been overcome, with U.S. troops only being subject to American laws.


    Endless Afghanistan?

    The document suggests Afghan negotiators want a long-term U.S. presence, with U.S. forces and contractors providing intelligence, training and funding, but also to keep American forces as confined as possible. It shows Afghans want to keep their U.S. partners, but on their terms. It also suggests the United States is not confident that without a long-term commitment, the Afghan government can bring stability or effectively fight terrorism.
    http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...efinitely?lite



  2. Remove this section of ads by registering.
  3. #2
    Its all about defending the poppy fields. Thats what important in Afghanistan. The poppy drug trade finishes up to Kosovo and Turkey.

  4. #3
    I'm pretty sure that we are no longer in Afghanistan. The president told me we were leaving.

  5. #4
    As far as current expenditures agreed upon...

    The US Taxpayers are paying for the thousands of US troops stationed in Afghanistan, as well as, paying for the Afghan Army military, their equipment, and training. It's just simply getting ridiculous...
    You know this is about keeping bases surrounding Iran, Pakistani drone strikes, and at India's/China's western region doorsteps. The maniacs ruinning this country poise themselves for war with anybody at anytime no matter how much Americans have to suffer for their conquests.

    AND TO CONTINUE...

    Here in the America, we have homeless VETS, homeless families, tent cities, loss of millions of jobs, yet the Billions and billions are constantly flowing out of the country, especially to Afghanistan. You could say, it's the typical MO of protecting those Lithium rights(natural resources again) for the Fascist-Marxists Green Battery corporate manufacturers too.

    Whowould of thunk Washington DC has turned-out to be the Imperial Fascist Empire; stealing, destroying, drug dealing, and killing with impunity around the world.
    Last edited by HOLLYWOOD; 11-19-2013 at 09:29 PM.
    The American Dream, Wake Up People, This is our country! <===click

    "All eyes are opened, or opening to the rights of man, let the annual return of this day(July 4th), forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."
    Thomas Jefferson
    June 1826



    Rock The World!
    USAF Veteran

  6. #5
    Apparently the Afghans didn't have the backbone of their Iraqi counterparts in standing their ground on having sovereign legal jurisdiction in their own country. So all US military personnel there are effectively US ambassadors, with immunity over crimes they might commit. Obama will use word games to cover this all up (saying 'combat troops' have been withdrawn, while calling all the troops there something else).
    -----Peace & Freedom, John Clifton-----
    Blog: https://electclifton.wordpress.com/2...back-backlash/

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Peace&Freedom View Post
    Apparently the Afghans didn't have the backbone of their Iraqi counterparts in standing their ground on having sovereign legal jurisdiction in their own country.
    You mean the Afghan puppet regime? Afghan's largest ethnic group seems to be supporting insurgency there.

  8. #7
    Thats ok. GW Bush was on Jay Leon everyone miss the Bush, lets get another Bush in the white house, so we can keep winning the Good fight!



Similar Threads

  1. PJB: The GOP Marches to Endless War
    By Lucille in forum U.S. Political News
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-27-2015, 02:58 PM
  2. DHS tackles endless morale problems with seemingly endless studies
    By Suzanimal in forum U.S. Political News
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 02-22-2015, 01:00 PM
  3. Endless Rat Hole
    By Feelgood in forum Ron Paul Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-28-2012, 11:53 PM
  4. Endless Oil ??!! Oil Revisionists say so...
    By rpfan2008 in forum Economy & Markets
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 08-05-2008, 08:03 AM
  5. Ron gets cut off - but everyone else gets endless time?
    By runamuck in forum Reagan Library Debate
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 01-30-2008, 07:36 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •