In a meeting with President Karzai, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey has said the talks on the Bilateral Security Agreement should be accelerated and an agreement should be reached between Kabul and Washington by October. He added, “Militarily I would like to understand the future more clearly through the BSA. Sometime between now and October we would like to have the ‘enduring framework’ in place. So that there would be approximately 90 days before the current mandate ends and the new mandate called ‘resolute support’ would begin.”
Gen. Dempsey downplayed the talks of zero option by saying Washington has not reviewed the ‘zero option’ for Afghanistan. However, he warned if the talks over the BSA fail, the U.S. will pull-out all its troops from Afghanistan.
Apparently in a first positive gesture after the deadlock between Kabul and Washington on the issue of the Taliban office in Doha, President Karzai has expressed willingness to sign the Agreement, but, “only on the condition that the U.S. agrees to accept the demands put up by Afghanistan”. That part becomes murkier are more tricky when ‘national interests’ get defined by a narrow circle of self-serving rulers who have made issues of national significance as a bargaining tool for their narrow agendas.
These conditions have been mentioned vaguely in media by the Government, but it has not been clear what those demands exactly are and who have declared them to be ‘demands of the people’ of Afghanistan and our ‘national interest’. Masses have been kept in the dark regarding the BSA discussions. Even parliament does not know what has been going on from the side of the Government. In such a situation, it is suitable to ask who declares the national interest and on what basis?
The so-called demands include all out support for the Afghan National Security Forces at all times and efforts for sustainable peace in Afghanistan.
BSA is an integral part of the US-Afghanistan Strategic Cooperation Agreement and calls of another Loya Jirga is not only a waste of time and significant amount of money, but also a controversial move aimed at political maneuvering by the rulers.
It seems the Government is intent to continue with its plans of the Jirga, which is absolutely unnecessary and time-wasting given the fact that a previous consultative jirga has already approved the overall Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the US and there is no need of another drama of hand-picked ‘elders’ to decide on this issue.
The Government better focus on issues related to elections for next year. President Karzai should abandon the responsibility of reconciliation and peace talks to the next President and the new parliament. Despite two years of efforts, there has been almost no result. Rather, the solo drive of the President in an exclusive process with the attempts to control its agenda and outcome, the talks about talks with the Taliban has proved an utter failure.