Karzai to Ask Bush for Security Deal (A Permanent Presence)

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050413/ap_on_re_as/rumsfeld

KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday he is preparing a formal request to President Bush for a long-term security partnership that could include a permanent U.S. military presence.


At a joint news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Karzai said he had consulted many of his country's citizens in recent weeks about "a strategic security relationship," with the United States that could help Afghanistan avoid foreign interference and military conflicts.


"The conclusion we have drawn is that the Afghan people want a long-term relationship with the United States," Karzai said. Karzai said he has previously discussed this with Bush, but is now planning to formalize the request, but did not say when.


Rumsfeld was asked about America's willingness to offer security guarantees to Afghanistan and to establish permanent military bases here. He said this was a matter for President Bush to decide.

[bullimiami]

1. bushco never planned to leave.

and since the puppet government wont be able to hold the country for them they have to leave a little more military than they hoped.

[whistle]

2. We'll need a whole military division in Afghanistan just to protect

...the poppy fields and heroin/opium distribution routes. Bush will most definitely protect the interests of American enterprise in these matters.

[atreides1]

10. It'll take more then that my friend

The Russians had more then one division, and in the end they failed to hold onto Afghanistan.

Historically, no invader has ever been able to hold onto this mountainous country, Alexander the Great, the Mongols, the British,
and the Russians, they all tried and they all failed.

Once the US sets up a permanent presence, then NATO is no longer obligated to provide troops, and NATo forces will pull out once the US comes in to stay.

[whistle]

18. I stand corrected, how many troops in a division....

<snip>

Beginning in July 2004, the United States began implementing the OIF 3 troop rotation. OIF-3 plans call for troops numbers to be reduced from 140,000 to roughly 130,000. The rotation was slated to take place until March 2005.

According to documents presented during a HASC hearing on July 7, 2004, US force disposition plans call for a Stryker Brigade to remain stationed in Northern Iraq. The 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, will replace in this role the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. In the North-central sector of Iraq, The 1st Infantry Division will be replaced by the 42nd Infantry Division of the NY National Guard, while II MEF will take over I MEF operations in Western Iraq. The Brigade of the 1st Armored Division attached to the Polish south-central sector, will be replaced by the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain. Finally, the 3rd Infantry Division will take over the 1st cavalry Divison in Baghdad. As part of the rotation, OIF units will be deploying 'heavy'.

The number of Army National Guard brigades in Iraq will increase during this rotation from three to five. The rotation will mark a first with a National Guard division headquarters (42nd Infantry Division) assuming, for the first time in Iraq, command active-duty brigades.

As a result of the January 2005 Iraqi elections, the deployment of a number of units taking part in OIF 2 was extended in a manner similar to units which took part in OIF 1; this time in order to boost the number of troops in Iraq in time for the elections. The extension combined with regularly scheduled deployments and reinforcements boosted the US force in Iraq from 17 to 20 brigades and to an official and approximate figure of 153, 000 troops. That number is expected to dwindle down to 135,000, as units get rotated out of Iraq, including units whose tour had been extended.

<link> http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat.htm

[mike_c]

3. gee, I'll bet Babrak Karmal made a similar request...

...of the Soviets in 1979.

[Frederik]

7. Yes, they

even had an election during the war, which Pravda hailed as highly successful.

[0007]

4. Wow!! Sounds like Karzai is becoming extremely nervous these days!

Isn't Kabul the only city where the President of Afghanistan is indeed safe?

I thought the Afghan folks were all naming their children Jenna, Barbara, George & Dick? I thought all the ladies belonged to the Laura Bush fan club and Democracy was running rampant? Or was that all propaganda?

Karzai may have to exile his country again one day.

In 1938 a soldier asked when the German Army would shorten tours from 12 to six months for those serving in Poland or Denmark. As he also had said a day earlier in Poland, Hitler said he was thinking about that, but had not made a decision.

[Frederik]

8. He's only safe in his office

US special forces or Blackwater mercenaries must protect him when he leaves it.

[Inland]

5. "avoid foreign interference". What a joke.

Does anyone think that the US security presence is to protect Karzai from anyone but other afghans? Such as, all the other Afghans that don't live in the area surronding Kabul, since they aren't under the authority of the government?

Karzai might as well start picking out his exile home in the US. Ten, twenty, thirty years, he'll be fleeing.

[skypilot]

6. Sounds like an endless loop.

From Afghanistan to Iraq, from Iraq to Afghanistan.

[denverbill]

9. Kinda like how Poland requested the USSR to protect it.

Interesting that this has been decided before they do actual elections there, isn't it?

[AzDar]

11. Won't be long now before the" Iraqi people" "request" a permanent

US military presence in their country, will it?

[rocktivity]

12. Don't they know that WE know about the 14 permanent military bases?

Obviously a cover story for Rummy's "victory strategy" falling flat. It's not REALLY an occupation if they INVITE us, right?

:headbang:
rocknation

[tanyev]

17. Yep, that was my first thought when I heard the story

on the noon news today. Pretty soon they will be able to start talking openly about the military bases that were mentioned in the "Hijacking Catastrophe" documentary--the ones that are conveeeeeniently located along the route of the oil pipeline.

[Tempest]

13. Wouldn't this make the U.S. the world's police?

And didn't Bush say he wouldn't do this?

[hector459]

14. So, the US will become "hired guns" for the "blooming democracies?"

That's one way to answer the unemployment problem. And think of the salaries that can be made since they will all be covered by the military budget. Masterful stroke of genius by the RW. We will not be the "policemen" of the world but the 'mercenaries of the world."

[daleo]

15. Karzai asked a few fellow lackeys in Kabul

He wouldn't dare go anywhere else. Without U.S. troops I think his lifespan would be quite short.

Why hasn't Bush caught Bin Laden, by the way. It has been three and a half years now. "He can run but he can't hide" - he seems like he has done a pretty good job of both, or else Bush isn't really looking too hard.

[LynnTheDem]

16. Dictator bush will decide...IF he can MAKE UP HIS FLIP-FLOPPING tiny mind.

"If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road."

-g.w. bush
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/debates/transcripts/u221003.html

[Moderator]

19. kick to combine

[lovuian]

20. Karzai seeks US strategic links

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=72eb564214d367b5&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Karzai seeks US strategic links

Mr Karzai talked of a "strategic security relationship"
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said his country wants a long-term security relationship with the United States.
Mr Karzai was speaking after talks with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the capital, Kabul.

Mr Rumsfeld flew into Afghanistan on Wednesday morning from Iraq. He is now in Pakistan for talks on military ties and the war on terror.

Correspondents say the US is assessing the future military role of American troops in Afghanistan.

more...
Of course he wants us there cause if we left he be one dead dude!!!

[thebigidea]

21. goodness, what a surprise that our puppet wants his strings