The Financial Times & PressTV & Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – 2011-02-20 22:05:57
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a89214ac-3ac4-11e0-9c1a-00144feabdc0.html
US Troops Set for Longer Afghan Stay
Daniel Dombey and Matthew Green / The FinancialTimes
WASHINGTON and KABUL (February 17 2011) — The US surge in Afghanistan is likely to stay in place long beyond President Barack Obama’s initial plan to pull troops out in large numbers this year. Some US officials anticipate the drawdown scheduled for this year will be relatively modest — even though Mr Obama had initially intended to “push the curve to the left” in the 30,000-strong surge, accelerating both its deployment and withdrawal.
[For the complete article, click on the link.]
Russia Warns US against Afghan Bases
PressTV
MOSCOW (February 19, 2011) — Russia has warned the US against setting up permanent military bases in Afghanistan, saying the move could undermine peacemaking efforts and anger neighbors.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed US plans to set up permanent bases in the war-torn country to enable US troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the 2014 deadline. Karzai says the US officials are in talks with the Afghan government in this regard.
“This information makes one think and raises questions,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. “Why will US military bases be needed if the terrorist threat in … Afghanistan is ended?”
“Will Kabul be able to combine negotiations on a long-term American military presence with the reconciliation process? How will Afghanistan’s neighbors view the deployment of a foreign country’s military bases near their territory?” Moscow questioned.
Some 15,000 Russian troops and 1 million Afghans were killed during the former’s Soviet Union’s 1980s war in Afghanistan that lasted an entire decade. In fact, the disastrous Cold War conflict contributed to the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The Afghan president during his February 9 press conference did not give a date for finalizing the deal with the US, but said any long-term partnership would need to be approved by the parliament and the grand tribal council known as the Loya Jirga.
Karzai also emphasized that long-term US bases would not be “used as (a) base against other countries and that Afghanistan is not a place from where our neighbors could be threatened.”
If an agreement is reached on permanent bases, US troops will remain on Afghan soil beyond the planned transfer of security responsibilities by the end of 2014 — a process scheduled to start in the spring this year.
This is while US President Barack Obama has pledged to begin withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan this year.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan also strongly rejected the plans for establishing permanent US military bases in his country.
Speaking on Tuesday in a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the Soviet troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ismail Khan slammed Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak for his support of the plan.
Ismail Khan pointed out that the defense minister should change his stance as he had ignored the dignity of the Afghan people.
The minister of energy and water further reiterated that the Afghans would be capable of providing security in the war-hit country if foreigners stop interfering.
There are now over 150,000 US-led troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban.
Permanent Bases in Afghanistan are American Pipedream:
Statement From The Afghan Resistance

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

/ Information Clearing House
AFGHANISTAN (February 19, 2011) — Last week, the Head of the American-installed Regime, Karzai, admitted that Americans were planning to have permanent presence and bases in Afghanistan. According to him, the Americans perceive some incessant threats, which could not be eliminated until 2014.
Undoubtedly, the Americans showed their muscles, resorted to brutalities, used cutting-edge technology, economy, diplomacy and ploys during the last decade to swallow and digest Afghanistan. But thanks to the help of the Almighty Allah and the bravery of the Afghan Mujahid people, American and the invading coalition forces faced defeat, their stratagems and strategies failed.
The situation now has reached a phase that every household of the Afghans opposes the invasion and wants to beat them. Similarly, the people in West and in America, loudly say that America has lost the war of Afghanistan; they do not support this war and want their troops to return back home soon.
Since the Americans have lost the chance of advancement at the military field and disappointed from the success of their war strategies, so they want to justify their presence in Afghanistan for some time by resorting to the stint of establishment of permanent bases in them country. They want to show to the world that they have come here for an important mission, which requires their prolonged presence.
The Afghans know the idea of permanent bases is a mere conjectures of the Americans because Afghanistan is not a country where the aborigines will tolerate presence of foreign troops even for a single day, nor they will be ready to sell their soil to the Americans for a few million of dollars.
The Americans should know, neither the rulers of the stooge regime nor the hand-picked parliament is entitled to trade on the destiny of Afghanistan with any one — still less to be in a position to implement it. Had they enjoyed such mandate and representation of their people, Afghanistan would not have become a center of toils and threats for the foreign invaders.
These stooge rulers sold Afghanistan to G. W. Bush ten years ago ostensibly for 5 centuries, but the past decade is witness to the fact that the Americans never have had a sleep of solace even for a single night but, contrarily, every inch of Afghanistan has become an oven for them.
This exposes the fact that this country has some other vanguards who are able to force the 150,000 men strong foreign invaders to pull out and meanwhile besiege the surrogates in their official buildings to the extent that they can’t walk freely one meter out of their premises. Their scope of authority and activity is limited to the said buildings, being merely able to implement their say there.
Observers believe, the establishment of permanent bases in Afghanistan is an American pipedream and is not practicable. The regional countries unmistakably realize the goals and objectives of America behind their prolonged presence in Afghanistan. Naturally, the regional countries will not accept this notion but rather will oppose it. Even they will forge an alliance against it if they find the chance to do so and will make efforts to deal a dashing and crumbling blow at America.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
