Afghanistan: The Occupation, Part II

Afghan Interim Chairman Hamid Karzai in 2002 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bob Dreyfuss | The Nation | Reader Supported News | November 23, 2013

eet the new occupation: same as the old occupation! Or pretty much: not as many troops, not as many dead and wounded every week, but still. In the new US-Afghanistan accord – which may or may not be ratified early next week by President Hamid Karzai’s Loya Jirga, and which may or may not be signed until some in mid-2014 – the United States will be able to maintain as many as nine military bases in Afghanistan. In addition, American troops and US contractors can go in and out of Afghanistan without visas. And neither the troops nor the contractors will be subject to Afghan law.

In a hilarious statement of his priorities, Karzai said: “We want the Americans to respect our sovereignty and laws and be an honest partner. And bring a lot of money.” The delegates to the Loya Jirga laughed, said The New York Times.

The Afghan foreign ministry released draft text of the accord, which (among other things) codifies that the United States must continue to finance Afghanistan’s ragtag security forces indefinitely, or at least through 2024, saying “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 forces.

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Obama, Karzai announce reduced role for US military in Afghanistan

Jonathan Easley | The Hill | January 11, 2013

President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday announced that the  U.S. military would begin a scaled-back role in Afghanistan in mid-2013, sooner  than initially projected.

“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission — training,  advising and assisting Afghan forces,” Obama said in a joint press conference  with Karzai in the East Room of the White House.

 

“By the end of next year — 2014 — the transition will be complete,” he  continued. “This war will come to a responsible end.”

Obama said he’d be taking recommendations from commanders on the ground to  determine how many — or if any — troops would stay in the country after 2014. In a statement released just moments before  the press conference, the White House said the two governments hoped to soon  finalize an agreement on residual U.S. troops.

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