There is no or little hope that President Hamid Karzai will sign the crucial Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States as long as he is in office. Although all the presidential candidates running for April 5th polls have indicated willingness in signing the agreement after they triumph in election, the US has been pushing Hamid Karzai to do the job so that it can plan better for its post-2014 military presence in Afghanistan and allow other NATO countries do the same.
Delay in signing the BSA has caused the US authorities start mulling over ‘zero option’ or full withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. While such a decision holds much negative outcomes for the Afghanistan and its people, it can also negate the achievements of the US government against Al-Qaeda, the terror network that launched 9/11 attacks.
On Thursday, head of US special operations command, Admiral William McRaven, known for overseeing the 2011 raid by Navy SEAL commandos that killed Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Pakistan warned that Al-Qaeda's core leadership in Pakistan has been seriously weakened, but the potential withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan could trigger a resurgence of the terror network.
"If we do go to zero, and there is no special operations component left in Afghanistan, it will certainly make it more difficult to be able to deal with the threat, ...and the potential resurgence of Al-Qaeda in the area," McRaven told the House Armed Services Committee. There is no doubt that complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan bears serious security risks for Afghanistan, the region and the whole world. If the ground is left to Al-Qaeda and groups affiliated to it, they will definitely resurge with more power and mercilessness.
The main objective of the US fight in Afghanistan has been eliminating Al-Qaeda network. Undoubtedly, the US has had significant achievements against the network over the past 12 years. With the killing of Osama bin Laden it is believed that Al-Qaeda has grown weak and does not possess the capability of launching any major terror attacks against the western countries. Nonetheless, their resurgence is possible if the US goes for zero option.
In case the US opts to pull its all forces from Afghanistan, the greatest aid to Al-Qaeda will be Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Both these groups have dramatically grown strong and might once again host leaders of Al-Qaida network and that will disastrous.