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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Karzai says Afghanistan doesn't need US troops KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — In his final address to Afghanistan's parliament Saturday, President Hamid Karzai 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. Related Stories Karzai says war 'imposed' on Afghanistan Associated Press Afghan Taliban warn voters to stay away from polls Associated Press Afghan Taliban order fighters to disrupt vote Associated Press Dempsey worries about effects of withdrawal talk Associated Press Obama, Karzai discuss stalled security agreement Associated Press 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-Qaida. 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. Karzai was brought to power in the wake of the 2001 U.S.-led invasion and subsequently won two presidential elections __ in 2004 and again in 2009. But he has in recent years espoused a combatative nationalism, with his hour-long speech Saturday no exception. "I want to say to all those foreign countries who maybe out of habit or because they want to interfere, that they should not interfere," he said. Headlines: Afghan President Karzai says war has le … Play video Headlines: Afghan President Karzai says war has left … Karzai said the war in Afghanistan was "imposed" on his nation, presumably by the 2001 invasion, and told the United States it could bring peace to Afghanistan if it went after terrorist sanctuaries and countries that supported terrorism, a reference to Pakistan. Pakistan has a complicated relationship with the Taliban. It backed the group before their 2001 overthrow, and although now it is at war with its own militants, Afghan insurgents sometimes find refuge on its territory. Karzai told parliament, which was holding its opening session for this term, that security forces were strong enough to defend Afghanistan without the help of international troops. Karzai steps down after next month's presidential elections. Under Afghanistan's constitution, he is banned from seeking a third term. He came to power in December 2001 following an international agreement signed in Bonn, Germany, and was confirmed by a Loya Jirga or grand council that selected a transitional government to rule while preparing for nationwide elections. He subsequently won two presidential elections. View gallery U.S. troops in Afghanistan A U.S. soldier's helmet lies on a mountaintop position on September 2, 2011 at Observation Post Must … Relations between Karzai and the United States have been on a downward spiral since his re-election in 2009, in which the United States and several other countries charged widespread fraud. Karzai in turn accused them of interference. In his speech Karzai again urged Taliban insurgents to join the peace process, while accusing Pakistan of protecting the Taliban leadership. He suggested that Pakistan was behind the killing earlier this year of a Taliban leader who supported the peace process. No one has taken responsibility for the attack. Throughout his speech Karzai spoke of his accomplishments over the last 12 years, saying schools were functioning, rights were being given to women, energy projects were coming online and the Afghan currency had been stabilized. Karzai said that when he first took power his country was isolated and nothing was functioning. "I know the future president will protect these gains and priorities and will do the best for peace in the country and I, as an Afghan citizen, will support peace and will cooperate." Afghanistan's current parliament plans to tackle a number of key issues, including a controversial law on the elimination of violence against women. Meanwhile the Taliban released two Afghan army personnel, captured during last month's deadly raids on two military check points, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement Saturday. The men were freed after elders in the region interceded on their behalf and the military agreed to hand over to the Taliban the bodies of their colleagues left behind on the battlefield. The attacks on Feb. 23 left 21 Afghan army personnel dead. Several insurgents were also killed. ___ Kathy Gannon is AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be followed on www.twitter.com/kathygannon 4,054 Comments Poster Comment: Baby Blue... Feb 10, 2014 'The Obama administration unveiled Monday yet another aid package for Afghanistan. The country remains one of the world’s poorest and most dangerous countries despite a dozen years of massive international aid efforts. The announcement from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of three new development initiatives worth almost $300 million is part of a U.S. effort to ensure that Afghanistan, as its ‘war economy’ ends, won’t “reverse gains made over the last twelve years.” How Much We Have Already Spent To fully grasp the insanity of yet another initiative that drains taxpayer money into the open sore of Afghanistan, some numbers may help. Over the past twelve years the U.S. has given the Afghans some $100 billion in aid. About half of all “aid” goes directly to the Afghan military. There have also been significant amounts of aid delivered to Afghanistan by other countries and private donors. The Return on Investment: 80 Percent Never Gets There The aid money works out to be over $3300 per Afghan, assuming any of the money actually reaches an Afghan. The reality is, according to a Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction auditor, that 70-80% of the money is siphoned off by contractors as overhead. The Return on Investment: Losses to Corruption No one knows how much of the money disappears as bribes, graft or outright theft. However, a 2009 U.S. State Department cable disclosed on Wikileaks stated “While reports vary widely, records obtained from Kabul International Airport (KIA) support suspicions large amounts of physical cash transit from Kabul to Dubai on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis. According to confidential reports, more than $190 million left Kabul for Dubai through KIA during July, August, and September.” A 2012 report showed $4.6 billion fled via the Kabul airport, about one-quarter of the country’s gross domestic product. The year before, $2.3 billion in cash left via the airport. In a single incident, the then-Afghan Vice President flew to Dubai with $52 million in unexplained cash.' Add in the USA portion of UN humanitarian programs. Last un data is 2011. USA tops the top 10 doner list +9 Edward Ok let's leave! Now! This puppet of a leader jones who put him in power and who kept him there. Like the coward that he is, he will now run away from that useless country and live off of millions his family stole from aid given to his country, the money that was supposed to build roads and schools etc, went instead to line his corrupt power. He has no legacy other than a brother who was a drug dealer and a family that even now chooses not to live in the country he supposedly leads. Karzai is a criminal that should be handed over to the Taliban instead of published. His army of nearly 350k men will last exactly 30 to 180 days if it wasn't for our support and he is the only one that doesn't choose to see it. I spent three years in Afghanistan and have talked to countless afghan soldiers, I have seen their work and their equipment firsthand, and when I say they won't last past 180 days on their own, I know what I'm talking about. They can fix broken down vehicles, they can't deliver food and water to themselves let alone fuel and ammunition. They can't transport their injured and even if they could transport them, they don't have facilities to take them two...they have abandoned their posts and joined the Taliban when threatened, they have killed their own citizens for daily meals let alone much bigger bribes. Their troops are diseased (up to 90 percent believed to have STDs) and untrainable. They practice extreme racism against each other (Pashtoon against Hazara against Tajik against Turkman and against even the guy from the next village no matter what his tribe) and this will and has turned them to kill each other for no other reason. Karzai is cut from the cloth and he ought to be shot for it not allowed to leave Afghanistan. What we need to do is to either leave...or carpet bomb the place and use it for a military base as it's location...location...is the only reason we ought be seriously using to curb people like Putin today. If Putin has the balls to take over a country militarily and China has done the same with some islands, then so should we. If for nothing else for parking a few of our hardware next door to those two counties who can't be trusted as far as you can throw Karzai. Let me be in charge of this thing and I'll make Putin look like a school girl! Scratch that last remark...I'm just frustrated as I feel three years of my life was wanted in that dump they call Afghanistan!+71-1 BTW...I hate auto correct and should have re read to fix things. Sorry! [DEFAULT_USERNAME] Commenter In 1843, the British army chaplain Rev G.H. Gleig wrote a memoir of the disastrous (First) Anglo-Afghan War, of which he was one of the very few survivors. He wrote that it was "a war begun for no wise purpose, carried on with a strange mixture of rashness and timidity, brought to a close after suffering and disaster, without much glory attached either to the government which directed, or the great body of troops which waged it. Not one benefit, political or military, was acquired with this war. Our eventual evacuation of the country resembled the retreat of an army defeated.+25-1 [E-Mail] The Neocons are just a powerful as they have ever been. Only divine intervention will change that..-1. [DNL] "Could someone tell me why the US did not leave Afghanistan as soon a Bin Laden was assassinated? " - Because it was never about killing Bin Laden in the first place. Bin Laden was only a smoke screen. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Smirk, sure, attaboy, Kars! So no need for Huey helicopters to be on standby to evac your lying, thieving, puppet self to Pakistan when the US leaves the Afghan hell hole that you call "home." You've got everything under control!
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