Karachi: US forces will stay in Afghanistan until 2024 under a deal aimed at reassuring the Afghan public, regional powers and insurgents that Washington will not abandon Kabul after most foreign troops withdraw.
The agreement was finalised on Sunday after months of fraught negotiations dogged by disputes between Hamid Karzai, the president, and US officials over night raids on insurgents and control of military prisons.
"I have been involved in many international negotiations. I can say without doubt, I have never encountered a tougher negotiator," said Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador, referring to the Afghan team.
_________________ "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." ~ Albert Einstein
Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:11 am
rutsuyasun
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Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:21 am Posts: 2775
Re: US to stay in Afghanistan until 2024
more from a different article:
Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Mr Karzai’s top security adviser, has said that a new strategic pact has been agreed between the U.S. and Afghanistan. Part of this pact implies that the U.S. will not use the country to launch attacks on other countries in the region, including drone strikes. However he did stress that the U.S. will only aid Afghanistan if approved by Kabul. Spanta said that Washington may use “diplomatic means, political means, economic means and even military means.” The agreement included financial support to the Afghan security forces after 2014 and the U.S. will pay up to US$4 billion annually, if this funding is approved by Congress.
snip
it now seems likely that - as happened in Iraq - the U.S. will be staying longer than initially planned and anticipated.
My first thought too, L. GOtta love those poppies, and don't forget the pathway to the rich oil fields just north of Afghanistan - no other way to get the oil out except through Afghanistan.
_________________ "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." ~ Albert Einstein
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