#Afghans #relieved by #Obamas #pledge of #support in #state of the #union #address Many #watched #speech with #anxiety amid #rows between Afghan #president and #US #diplomats over long-term #partnership #deal Emma Graham-Harrison theguardian, Wednesday 29 January 2014 13.53 GMT Jump to comments (5) Obama gives state of the union address Barack Obamas state of the union speech was said to be the most closely watched in years in Afghanistan. Photograph: Rex In Afghanistan weeks of bitter rows between the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and US diplomats left many people concerned that Barack Obama would use his state of the union speech to row away from long-term support for their country. For me, over the last 12 years … this is the most well-known [state of the union] speech among Afghan people, said Abdul Waheed Wafa, director of the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University. Even people who knew little about US politics were waiting to hear from Obama, he added. Two or three days ago I was at the barber shop and the barber was asking me: Hey, I hear there is a big jirga [traditional gathering of leaders] in the US. People are talking about it. Wafa himself watched the US presidents speech from beginning to end for the first time, and said he and many others were relieved by the promise of long-term backing for Kabul. After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future, Obama told Americans. But he also told the story of a US soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan, promised that Americas longest war will finally be over this year, and said US troops would only stay on to help Kabul if a long-term partnership deal was signed. That pact, the bilateral security agreement, has been at the heart of disputes with Karzai, and there are still concerns that if the rows run too close to the current deadline for all US and Nato troops to leave, it could be abandoned. Without it a promised $8bn a year in military and civilian aid would probably dissipate as well. The US-led mission has often been challenged or resented for issues from causing civilian deaths to heavy-handed meddling in domestic politics and fuelling corruption with multimillion-dollar logistics contracts. But even critics are concerned that a too hasty departure could leave the Afghan security forces struggling to hold off the Taliban, and jeopardise other gains of the past decade in areas such as education. Womens rights advocates such as the outspoken MP Fawzia Koofi are particularly concerned that the departure comes as the country faces a difficult presidential election and change of leader, as the incumbent Karzai must step down in a few months. Its a very important year … I hope the withdrawal will be responsible, Koofi said after a morning fielding calls from Afghan media about the speech. It could particularly damage womens situation if not. theguardian/world/2014/jan/29/afghans-relieved-obama-support-state-of-the-union-address?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-3%20Main%20trailblock:Network%20front%20-%20main%20trailblock:Position7
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:22:13 +0000
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