The war in Afghanistan has been the longest in American history with just over 13 years of occupation. Although President Obama vowed that our presence would be no more by the end of 2014, we went ahead and signed a deal today to keep roughly 10,000 troops in the region, extending the U.S. military presence beyond the end of this year. Afghanistan’s newly inaugurated president, Ashraf Ghani, signed the Bilateral Security Agreement, or BSA, which would leave in place U.S. troops and a few others from NATO allies to bolster Afghan forces. This agreement is only for Afghan security and stability, said Ghani, who was sworn in on Monday. These agreements are in our national interest. The Bilateral Security Agreement will pave the ground for Afghanistan to take control, he added. Whats interesting to note is that Ghanis predecessor, Hamid Karzai, had refused the deal. Under the plan, the number of U.S. forces would be reduced by more than half in 2015, and then removed entirely by 2017. NATO countries are expected to contribute troops to the residual force as well, bringing the total to about 13,000. Two things should be noted regarding this deal: First, a trillion dollars’ worth of precious metals has recently been found in the Afghan mountains; and second, President Ghani, an economist and former chancellor of Kabul University, used to work for the World Bank from 1991-2001, leaving after the events of 9/11. Its a perfect strategy for the U.S. – claim that if we leave completely the country will implode and be overrun by radicals, and use that excuse to justify a continued troop presence. Then make sure their new president is not only western friendly, and world bank friendly, but make sure said president actually agrees to keep U.S. troops there, unlike their previous president Hamid Karzai. With a continued troop presence, we can continue to plunder Afghanistan for its resources while stealing more tax-payer money to fund and maintain this presence. Its a win-win for the ruling elite.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 21:37:55 +0000
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