Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
During his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama indicated he had every intention to leave a contingent of American and NATO allied troops in Afghanistan post-2014, but said he awaited the consent of the Afghan government.
"After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future," Obama said. "If the Afghan government signs an agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could stay in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counter-terror operation to pursue any remnants of Al Qaeda," he said referring to the still pending Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA).
"While our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not, our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country," he said to roaring applause in the gallery filled with Congressmen, Cabinet members and Supreme Court justices.
Obama said that when he took office, nearly 180,000 U.S. troops were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Today, all our troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from Afghanistan."
Of the roughly 80,000 foreign troops currently in Afghanistan, around 47,000 are Americans.
Obama said that with Afghan forces now in the lead of their country's security, the U.S. troops have moved into a supporting role. Currently, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) number around 300,000 men.
Earlier this week, President Hamid Karzai accused the Washington of trying to pressure the Afghan government by "any means" to sign the BSA. He claimed the U.S. government was engaging in a "psychological war", which he said was not the act of a "friend", but a "rival".
Karzai reaffirmed that his pre-condition that the U.S. help get peace talks with the Taliban back on track was firmly in place, adding that peace in Afghanistan was in the hands of the U.S. and Pakistan.
In an hour long press conference, the Afghan leader said he doesn't want the BSA to become a second Durand Line Treaty, referring to a deal made by former Afghan King Abdul Rahman Khan with British India over what is now a disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A key difference between the BSA and the Durand Line Treaty, of course, is that the security pact was approved by a 2,500-person Loya Jirga last November, whereas the Durand deal was brokered solely between royal elite, at the exclusion of popular input.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at a news conference on Monday urged Kabul to finalize its post-2014 deal with the U.S., warning that Afghanistan could face a complete halt in NATO support operations in the country "if it does not sign the Bilateral Security Agreement."
"For planning reasons, we need to know soon whether we are invited or not. I mean, if we are not invited, if we don't have any legal framework then we can't stay in Afghanistan after 2014. This is as simple as that," Rasmussen said.
President Obama also raised the issue of Gauantanamo Bay, where a number of Afghan nationals suspected of terrorist activities are currently being detained without due process. He pledged to close the prison, despite having made the same promise when running for President in 2009.
The reception of the U.S. President's speech amongst analysts in Afghanistan was mostly positive, with many more optimistic than they were just days prior after hearing Obama reaffirm his interest in continuing to support Afghanistan despite the turn for the worst his relations with Karzai have taken.
"President Obama in his speech to the U.S. congress reassured Afghanistan and the world that the American government and people will continue backing a unified Afghanistan post-2014 when foreign troops leave the country," former Minister of Interior Mohammad Hanif Atmar told TOLOnews.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.