| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Afghanistan | |
| Hagel hopes deal by Nov on US forces in Afghanistan | |
| 2013-10-01 | |
[Al Ahram] US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... 's refusal to be rushed. "I hope we'll have that agreement by the end of October, because we just can't move without it," Hagel told US soldiers participating in a live-fire exercise in South Korea. The United States plans to pull out the bulk of its 57,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and has tentative plans to retain a smaller force of around 10,000 forces after that. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... a new security agreement is needed to allow for the post-2014 presence, including provisions permitting the United States access to various bases. "We're working with President Karzai and his government to get that bilateral security agreement completed and signed," Hagel said. "Once we do that, we can and will go forward. That's critically important," he added. But Karzai has insisted Afghanistan would not be rushed over the negotiations and has even hinted that an agreement might not be finalised before presidential elections in April next year. "We are not in a hurry, if it happens in my government it will be good, if not, the new president can discuss it and either accept or reject it," Karzai said in August. | |
| Posted by:Fred |