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| Afghanistan |
| Karzai says Afghanistan doesn't need US troops |
| 2014-03-15 |
[BOSTON] In his final address to Afghanistan's parliament Saturday, 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... told the United States its soldiers can leave at the end of the year because his military, which already protects 93 percent of the country, was ready to take over entirely. He reiterated his stance that he would not sign a pact with the United States that would provide for a residual force of U.S. troops to remain behind after the final withdrawal, unless peace could first be established. The Afghan president has come under heavy pressure to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement, with a council of notables that he himself convened recommend that he sign the pact. The force would train and mentor Afghan troops, and some U.S. Special Forces would also be left behind to hunt down al-Qaeda. All 10 candidates seeking the presidency in April 5 elections have said they would sign the security agreement. But Karzai himself does not appear to want his legacy to include a commitment to a longer foreign troop presence in his country. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Wonder if we could transplant some of those Nile Locusts over to their poppy fields? |
| Posted by: Charles 2014-03-15 17:54 |
| #5 Good catch, Rambler. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-03-15 16:56 |
| #4 That's what Maliki thought. Of course, he had the Iranians... |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-03-15 16:19 |
| #3 Barbara, to add to your list: 0. Pull Karzai's American security detail, including his escape plane 0.1 Hilarity ensues |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2014-03-15 15:19 |
| #2 1. Pull ALL Americans and American equipment out (or sabotage the equipment so it won't work after a certain date), including embassy personnel. Suggest American civilians (if there are any) also leave. 2. Once all the Americans are out, send in planes with fighter escorts to spray ALL the poppy fields. 3. Hilarity ensues. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-03-15 14:59 |
| #1 As I understand it, before NATO arrived poppy production---Afghanistan's main source of income---was much lower. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-03-15 14:03 |