US troops could stay in Afghanistan until 2024

Not really a surprise, the USA will stay in Afghanistan for the same reasons as they went in the first place, oil, gas and pipelines and securing another outlet for the Petro Dollar

RT

The US and Afghanistan have reportedly agreed on the draft of a mutual security pact indicating that US troops could remain in the country until 2024, according to Afghanistan. However, the US insists that some final details still need to be clarified.

Afghan politicians and tribal leaders will meet in two days to  vote on the new agreement.

Although the final text of the agreement is expected to be  presented to the grand council on Thursday, it still needs some  final touches a US State Department spokeswoman said. “There  are still some final issues we are working through… We are not  there yet,” she said according to Reuters.

While the 25-page “Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement  Between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of  Afghanistan” is still unsigned, the deal displays a willingness  of the US to retain their military outposts for many years while  continuing to pay to support Afghan security forces.

The presence of up to 15,000 American troops could potentially  last until 2024, according to the document,  which was released for public viewing by NBC News.

Without such an accord however, the US might have to pull out  from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, as among other things the  agreement regulates its troops’ immunity from Afghan law.

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

It also attempted to clarify the on-going contentious issue of  whether the US military would be permitted to search civilian  homes.

And according to paragraph 4, the deal “may be terminated by  mutual written agreement or by either Party upon two years’  written notice.”

A screenshot from msnbcmedia.msn.com

In a phone call on Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry  asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai that US troops be permitted  to enter Afghan homes in “exceptional” circumstances,  according to AP. Aimal Faizi, a Karzai spokesman, in response  stated that any “extraordinary circumstances” could not be  misused.

Earlier reports suggested that Karzai rejected a provision granting the United States  authority to unilaterally carry out military operations within  the country, including the search of civilian homes.

The NBC document is dated July 25, 2013, which accounts for some  discrepancies in the document’s terms with the official  statement. Hamid Karzai has long vocally expressed objections to  US troops being permitted to enter homes and US troop immunity to  Afghan law. However, the US maintained that both conditions are  essential.

According to Faizi, the wording of these conditions was agreed  upon during Tuesday’s phone conversation.

Such concessions from Karzai became possible after “both sides  agreed that Obama will send a letter … assuring the President  and the people of Afghanistan that the right to enter into Afghan  homes by US forces and the extraordinary circumstances will not  be misused,” Faizi told Reuters.

Obama’s letter recognizing the damage done to the country’s  civilians during the 12 year war will be presented to the Afghan  grand assembly in an effort to gain popular support for a widely  opposed deal.

“The whole idea of having a letter was to acknowledge the  suffering of the Afghan people and the mistakes of the past. That  was the only thing that satisfied the President,” Faizi  said.

However, Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, told CNN  in an interview on Tuesday that no apology for Afghanistan was in  the works.

“There is not a need for the United States to apologize to  Afghanistan. Quite the contrary,” she said. “That is not  on the table.”

Later this week, thousands of Afghan political and tribal leaders  will meet to decide whether to allow US troops to remain in the  country following the 2014 withdrawal of foreign fighting  forces.

The five-day long negotiations of the so-called Loya Jirga grand  assembly are to begin on Thursday.

But even if the deal is approved by some 3,000 prominent Afghans,  which is not guaranteed, the final decision will be made by the  parliament after the convention.