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| Afghanistan |
| U.S., Afghans agree most of pact, elders to make final decision |
| 2013-10-14 |
[REUTERS] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... and Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid 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... have reached preliminary agreement on a bilateral security pact that now depends on the approval of Afghanistan's tribal leaders. The pact, announced jointly by Kerry and Karzai late on Saturday after two days of talks in the capital, Kabul, would keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year. The draft includes a U.S. demand to retain legal jurisdiction over its troops who stay on in Afghanistan, which would give them immunity from Afghan law. Karzai opposes that and said the question could not be decided by his government. Instead, a Loya Jirga, or an assembly of elders, leaders and other influential people, will consider the demand and decide whether to accept it. The United States is insisting it cannot agree to a deal unless it is granted the right to try in the United States its citizens who break the law in Afghanistan. "We need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement," Kerry told a news conference. U.S. officials said they wanted the pact finalized by the end of October and Kerry's visit was seen as a last-ditch effort to push it through before the deadline. A senior U.S. administration official said the sides had agreed on language in the draft deal that covers the issue of immunity and "that can be put to his Loya Jirga for their consideration". Hundreds of people, and at times even more than 1,000, attend a Loya Jirga, which makes it difficult to predict how deliberations will unfold. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... in the past, they have voted in favor of keeping a U.S. presence in Afghanistan and Western diplomats are optimistic the assembly will pass the deal - as long Karzai remains in favor of it. "The Loya Jirga here basically follows the advice of the president, and I think he will (agree to the pact)," said one senior diplomat. Karzai said the assembly would be held within a month. Karzai said the talks had focused on protecting Afghan illusory sovereignty and that major differences had been resolved, including a U.S. request to run independent counter-terrorism missions on Afghan territory. Such operations carried out by the United States have long infuriated the Afghan president, who had been demanding that the United States agrees to share intelligence instead. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Great. so any SOFA now depends on the senior most goat humpers..... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret 2013-10-14 20:33 |