Press TV
December 4, 2013
US seeks ‘carte blanche’ in Afghanistan
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The United States is putting pressure on Afghanistan in order to continue its military presence in the country for “the indefinite future”, said Rick Rozoff of Stop NATO International.
“The North Atlantic Treaty Organization in conjunction with the United States is simply trying to exercise as much pressure as it can over the very weak and isolated government in Kabul so as to be able to get carte blanche to continue military presence and activities in and around Afghanistan for the indefinite future,” Rozoff told Press TV on Tuesday.
The United States has increased the pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a security deal with Washington.
The US State Department said on Monday that failure to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) will put Afghans at risk.
In addition, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on Karzai to sign the BSA, and warned him against risking an end to the “Afghan mission” if he does not sign it before the year’s end.
However, Rozoff said, “the NATO is simply following the US lead because Washington has recently threatened the government in Kabul that unless it, the Karzai government, sign a bilateral security agreement acceptable or favorable to the United States, which included immunity from prosecution,” it would withdraw US troops from the country.
The controversial security pact will determine how many American soldiers would stay in Afghanistan after the planned withdrawal of foreign forces at the end of 2014. It will also grant legal immunity to American soldiers who remain in Afghanistan, something that has turned into a sticking point.
On November 19, Karzai rejected a key provision of the security pact, under which the US military forces are allowed to raid people’s homes.
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