>The US cannot maintain forces in Afghanistan forever -- running around,
>skirmishing with Wahhabis and so on. Unless the situation is stabilized, the
>inevitable pullout will leave a vacuum that will soon be filled by the most
>ruthless, now even better at killing for having fought US troops for so long.>
I am not an expert on military affairs, but consider some facts about the Afghan Theatre.
1. US has only 18,000 troops in Afghanistan. Compare this number with the US troop level in Iraq. (Afghanistan and Iraq are countries with roughly similar area and population, but the terrain in Afghanistan much more favourable to guerilla war.)
2. US hasn't had a very high casualty rate in Afghanistan. Iraqi security forces were dissolved after the fall of Baghdad. This didn't happen in Afghanistan.
3. US has already agreed to stay in Afghanistan for a long time, perhaps even permanently. (See the news report "United States to stay in Afghanistan for long".) ISI will takeover Afghanistan, if the US withdraws.
Ulhas
Daily Times
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
United States to stay in Afghanistan for long
* Bush and Karzai sign a strategic partnership
WASHINGTON: US President George Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership on Monday enabling long term American involvement in Afghanistan's security as well as reconstruction.
Among the key points of the agreement was allowing US military forces operating in Afghanistan to have continued access to the key Bagram Air Base as well as other military facilities as may be mutually determined.
American access to these facilities was necessary for US forces to help organise, train, equip, and sustain Afghan security forces according to the joint declaration of the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership.
It's a partnership we have been working on for quite a while, Bush told reporters with Karzai by his side after their meeting at the White House. It's a partnership that establishes regular high level exchanges of mutual interest, Bush said.
Earlier, Karzai complained about US treatment of Afghan detainees and Bush said Afghanistan poppy cultivation for heroin has to stop.
Karzai told Bush of his concern about a US Army report on alleged abuse of Afghan detainees. The report, details of which were published last week by The New York Times, described abuses of prisoners at the hands of US troops, including two deaths.
Also, in the wake of a reported State Department complaint that Karzai was not doing enough to eradicate the Afghan poppy crop used to make heroin, Bush said, "There is too much poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and I made it very clear that we have got to work together to eradicate the poppy crop."
agencies
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