Emma Graham-Harrison | Guardian UK | Reader Supported News | May 10, 2013
President strikes conciliatory tone about larger-than-expected continuing deployment, despite frequent criticism of US forces
The United States wants to keep troops at nine bases across Afghanistan, the country’s president, Hamid Karzai, said on Thursday – a larger number than expected given Washington’s scaled-back ambitions for shaping the country’s future.
Karzai, who has often been a fierce critic of the foreign forces that have dominated his country for years, was surprisingly conciliatory about the prospect of a long-term US presence. Keeping American soldiers on the ground was in Afghan interests, he said, as long as the soldiers came with support for the Afghan government and economy.
“We can agree to give them the bases – them staying on after 2014 is for the good of Afghanistan,” Karzai said in a speech at Kabul University. “The condition is that they bring peace and security and take action quickly … on the basic strengthening of Afghanistan, helping the economy of Afghanistan.”
The uneasy allies are currently thrashing out a bilateral security agreement (BSA) to define the terms for their future co-operation, and Karzai’s comments were the first real insight into the slow and difficult negotiations.
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