Karzai, Pakistan Protests against US Drone Strikes may force US out

[unhappycamper]

http://www.juancole.com/2013/11/karzai-pakistan-protests-against-us-drone-strikes-may-force-us-out.html

&feature=player_embedded

Karzai, Pakistan Protests against US Drone Strikes may force US out
Posted on 11/29/2013 by Juan Cole

Afghan President Hamid Karzai complained Friday that a US drone strike in Helmand Province targeting a Taliban commander on a motorcycle appears to have gone bad and ended up killing a 2 year old child and wounding two women instead. A second drone strike killed the commander.

Karzai said that he would not sign a Status of Forces Agreement with the US until they stopped military operations that involved invading the homes of Afghans, and hinted that the drone strikes are an issue for him too, since they demonstrate, he said, the the US does not respect the lives of non-combatants.

Karzai’s refusal to sign the SOFA may force the US to begin withdrawals and to make plans, at least, to leave completely by the end of December 2014. The withdrawal of the 75,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan is a big logistical task and can’t be left till the last minute, in case there is no SOFA in the end. If US troops tried to operate in Afghanistan without a bilateral agreement, they could be brought up in Afghan courts on war crimes charges if anything went wrong. No US commander would agree to operate under such a constant threat.

US officials were surprised and dismayed when Karzai, after a long period of negotiations with the US on this issue, abruptly announced that he wouldn’t sign the agreement hammered out between his government and the US allowing American troops to remain in Afghanistan.

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[newfie11]

2. Americas way of winning the war

Or the military's way of prolonging and expanding war!

Me thinks it's the military's way

[bemildred]

3. I think that's the idea, to get us out, just like in Iraq.

These "US officials" are always surprised, but they never learn from it.