Issues pertaining to the Afghan-US security deal are subsiding as both the sides seem to have brought elasticity in their stances. This unlocks new hopes to bring Afghanistan out of the severe state of uncertainty it has been going through recently. Afghanistan and the US have travelled a long way together and there have been significant achievements in various areas. Taliban regime possesses no capability to rule Afghanistan once more and al-Qaida has been crushed. Retreating may have chaotic results for Afghanistan, the region and ultimately for the world.
The US authorities have indicated that the deadline for signature of Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) could be delayed. Senior advisers of US President Barack Obama have said the President is willing to extend the deadline on Kabul-Washington security agreement.
Meanwhile, certain Afghan MPs who met with President Karzai on December 20 have said the president is willing to sign the agreement soon once his reservations over search of Afghans’ homes during military operations are addressed. The former deadline of the US for finalizing the BSA was end of this year.
Much improvement has taken place on BSA – an agreement deemed the most crucial one in the history of Afghanistan. It was prepared after long negotiations between the Afghan and the US authorities.
A grand assembly of tribal elders and political leaders called Loya Jirga was convened last month by the Afghan government to endorse or reject the deal. As was expected, the 3,000 participants of the jirga gave a green signal to signing of the agreement. After some fuss over the deadline for its signature, the BSA now seems to be on the right track.
Seeing development on the agreement, the Taliban who are fiercely against foreign presences in Afghanistan, have said, “Presence of even a single US troop will not be accepted under any condition.” BSA ensures Afghanistan National Security Forces keep developing and nurturing and this is indeed the demise of Taliban’s plans to overtake power in Afghanistan once more.
Even if the Afghans are asked their notions about BSA through polls, a huge majority of them will come up with positive answers. What is worthy are the public wants, not Taliban’s statements. Failure in finalizing the BSA, which seems quite improbable now, will benefit the groups like Taliban and other terror groups that have been involved in shedding the blood of innocent Afghans.
BSA holds significant importance for Afghanistan as it must maintain the gains of the past 12 years. Its security forces require more trainings and equipment to be able to stand against short and long term security threats to the country. The flexibility in the stances of both Afghan and US authorities has boosted the optimism that the agreement will be signed in the near future.