[Tolo News] The Islamic Association of Students gathered in Kabul on Tuesday to rally against the signing of the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), saying the pact was against Afghanistan's national interests.The BSA will be discussed at a Loya Jirga in Kabul starting Thursday, but has been the subject of heated public debate for weeks. Some say the agreement is critical to Afghanistan's stability and future progress, while others claim it will ensure continued conflict with the Taliban and submissiveness to the U.S.
"If the BSA was in our religious and national interests, we would endorse it, but the BSA isn't in national interests and we won't vote in favor of the agreement," said MP Abdul Sattar Khawasi, who participated in the gathering on Tuesday and will also hold a seat at the Loya Jirga this week.
The security pact is intended to secure a continued military partnership between the U.S. and Afghanistan after the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
combat mission ends in 2014, including a residual foreign troop presence and some 4.1 billion USD of financial aid to the Afghan forces.
| A conversation with a member of the Quetta Council -- the leadership of the Afghan Taliban based in Pakistain -- was overheard. Spanta said that in the conversation, the Afghan in Kabul, who he refused to name, had coordinated plans to organize an anti-BSA rally in Afghanistan in order to support the Taliban's efforts to ensure the security pact goes unsigned |
"We don't want to give immunity to the U.S. forces, we have witnessed their treatment over the last twelve years," said Abdullah Azim, the of head of the Islamic Association of Students.
Many have mistakenly thought the term "troop immunity" means that U.S. forces would be have impunity to act as they want in Afghanistan post-2014, while in fact it means they would have immunity from prosecution in Afghan courts, but would remain under the criminal jurisdiction of the U.S.
Still, many Afghans are not confident the U.S. would pursue charges against its soldiers found to have committed crimes in Afghanistan.
Although negotiations between American and Afghan officials over the provisions of the BSA are for the most part complete, The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
reported on Monday that an impasse had been reached on the issue of U.S. unilateral operations.
With only two days remaining before the Jirga convenes, Karzai said he would not budge on the issue, refusing to concede to U.S. officials' demand to have the right to search Afghan houses suspected in relation to hard boy or terrorist activities.
Participants in the anti-BSA meeting on Tuesday government opposition groups, including the
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar... who used to be known in intelligence circles as
The Most Evil Man in the Worldbut who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil...
led Hezb-e-Islami Party, to negotiate with the Afghan government to prevent the security pact from being finalized.
Hezb-e-Islami, as well as the Taliban, have openly condemned the BSA and the Jirga for even considering the possibility of approving the accord. The Taliban claimed credit for a suicide kaboom on the Jirga grounds at the Polytechnic University in Kabul on Saturday that left 42 casualties, including women and kiddies.
Civil society activists criticized the Islamic Association of Students gathering and suggested it was part of plans hatched in "neighboring countries" to undermine Afghanistan's relations with the U.S.
Both Pakistain and Iran have voiced apprehensions about the agreement and the possibility of foreign troops continuing to have a presence in Afghanistan post-2014. Reportedly, if the agreement is signed, the U.S. would maintain anywhere between 10,000-15,000 troops in Afghan territory, likely to be accompanied by additional forces from other NATO countries.
"Some movements have been started by neighboring countries and they have sought to prevent the signing of the agreement," commented civil society activist Mir Ahmad Joyenda.
On Saturday, National Secuirty Advisor Dr. Rangin Dadfur Spanta told the Lower House that the phone of a leader in Kabul had been tapped and a conversation with a member of the Quetta Council -- the leadership of the Afghan Taliban based in Pakistain -- was overheard. Spanta said that in the conversation, the Afghan in Kabul, who he refused to name, had coordinated plans to organize an anti-BSA rally in Afghanistan in order to support the Taliban's efforts to ensure the security pact goes unsigned.