WASHINGTON - In a stern warning to the Karzai administration, the White House on Monday asked the crucial bilateral security agreement (BSA) determine the nature of the post-2014 mission be signed within weeks -- not months.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Afghan people had spoken through the Loya Jirga and supported the BSA conclusion at the earliest. As such, he added, the deal should not be left to the next president.

“This is a matter of weeks, not months. I think that’s a way of saying this can’t wait for very long because it’s impossible to ask our NATO allies or US military commanders to plan on a contingency -- this is a complicated piece of business and there cannot be and will not be US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 without a BSA,” Carney said.

He told reporters at his daily news conference the agreement was negotiated in good faith over a long period of time with the current Afghan government.  It was endorsed by the Loya Jirga in November last year. 

Given the significance of the agreement, why the US insisted on a leader whose mandate was left for only two months to sign the deal, rather than waiting for a new president with five-year tenure, he was asked.

“We’re not renegotiating the BSA, which needs to be signed in a matter of weeks, because you can’t hold in abeyance the need for NATO and US commanders to plan a post-2014 presence in Afghanistan should there be one, and there will not be one absent BSA,” Carney replied. (Pajhwok)