Press TV
November 29, 2013
US ‘not leaving’ major air bases in Afghanistan
Audio
The United States is ratcheting up pressure against the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai because it has no intentions of leaving major air bases, an analyst says.
“The US has no intentions of leaving major air bases in Afghanistan,” Rick Rozoff, from Stop NATO Network, told Press TV on Thursday.
“Some of which have been dealt by the Soviet Union, but upgraded and modernized by the United States for the purpose of being able to threaten and perform extra military aggression against not within Afghanistan, but presumably in neighboring bordering countries,” he added.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has so far refused to sign an agreement with the United States that would keep thousands of American troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
Deep disagreements over legal immunity for American soldiers and the controversial issue of night raids by foreign troops have held up the security pact.
The US wants to keep as many as 10,000 troops in the country to train the Afghan national security forces. Without an agreement, all troops should leave the country by the end of 2014.
President Karzai said this week he would not sign the pact and reiterated his call for an end to American troop raids on Afghan homes and the start of peace talks.
“Whenever the Americans meet these two demands of mine, I am ready to sign the agreement,” Karzai said.
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