US Troops to Remain in Afghanistan Post-2014: Obama

10 years ago | Posted in: Afghanistan, Latest Politics News | 683 Views

The US President Barack Obama during the State of the Union Address on Tuesday has told the members of Congress that his government was open to leaving American troops in Afghanistan post-2014.

Obama says that the in conjunction with NATO allies and with the consent of the Afghan government, a small force may remain in Afghanistan to conduct counter-terror operations.

“After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future,” Obama said. “If the Afghan government signs an agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could stay in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counter-terror operation to pursue any remnants of Al Qaeda.”

“While our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not, our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country,” he said.

Mr Obama said that when he took the office, nearly 180,000 US troops were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Today, all our troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from Afghanistan.”

He said that with Afghan forces now in the lead for their country’s security, the US troops have moved to a support role.

Early this week, President Hamid Karzai has the US government is pressuring the Afghan government through ‘all means’ to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and criticising Washington for engaging in a “psychological war”, which he said was not an act of a “friend”, but a “rival”.

He said that his pre-condition to resume peace talks with the Taliban is firmly in place, adding that peace in Afghanistan was in the hands of the US and Pakistan.

In an hour long press conference, the Afghan leader said he doesn’t want the BSA to become a second Durand, referring to a deal made by former Afghan King Abdul Rahman Khan with the British India on what is now a disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On Monday, the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at a news conference on Monday urged Kabul to finalise its post-2014 deal with the US, warning that Afghanistan could face a complete halt in NATO support operations in the country “if it does not sign the Bilateral Security Agreement.”
“For planning reasons, we need to know soon whether we are invited or not. I mean, if we are not invited, if we don’t have any legal framework then we can’t stay in Afghanistan after 2014. This is as simple as that,” Rasmussen said.

Of the roughly 80,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, around 47,000 are Americans.

Foreign troops in Afghanistan are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014 with the end of the NATO combat mission, after which time the Afghan security forces – currently numbering at around 300,000 men – will take over full security responsibility of the country.

Tolonews

Tags: ,

Share it.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts