Caspian Report - Issue: 07 - Spring 2014

A stable future for Afghanistan looks
bleak, which means that any country
concerned with global Jihad terrorism
needs to understand this movement
and the details of its operations:
specifically, how they recruit,
grow, and operate in the context of
Afghanistan’s uncertain future.
to negotiate. The Loya Jirga, which
was composed of tribal leaders and
The Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) will
allow about ten thousand foreign troops - 8000
American and 2000 NATO - to continue training
and assisting Afghan security forces.
US-Afghan Relations
The Bilateral Security Agreement
(BSA) will allow about ten thousand
foreign troops - 8000 American and
2000 NATO - to continue training
and assisting Afghan security forces.
Without the presence of these foreign
troops, many Afghans fear that
the influx of foreign aid will cease,
and that, unable to resist the Taliban,
the state could collapse. The first
sign of trouble came in last November,
on the occasion of a Loya Jirga, a
grand assembly of 2,500 community
leaders and tribal elders. The meeting
was convened to approve the
BSA, which had taken nearly a year
elders close to Karzai had overwhelmingly
endorsed it. However,
President Karzai criticized American
allies for a number of failures, including
civilian deaths from a NATO
bombing strike on January 15 th , 2013,
and making big prisons on several
occasions including a recent interview
with the Sunday Times. 7
Karzai’s other condition for the BSA
was for the US to open serious peace
talks with the Taliban. It transpired
that in early February, Karzai had
been holding secret peace talks with
the Taliban, without telling his Western
allies, though ultimately with
limited success. 8 Karzai does not
9
CASPIAN REPORT, sprIng 2014
7.
Christina Lamb (2014) “Hamid Karzai: America has left me with a mess. I can’t wait to go”
February 2, The Sunday Times. http://president.gov.af/en/news/full-transcript-of-presidentkarzais-interview-with-british-newspaper-the-sunday-times.
Retrieved on February 21, 2014.
8.
Azam Ahmed and Matthew Rosenberg (2014) Karzai Arranged Secret Contacts With the
Taliban” February 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/world/asia/karzai-has-held-secretcontacts-with-the-taliban.html.
Retrieved on February 22, 2014.
Afghan
delegates
discuss the
Bilateral Security
Agreement
during a fourday
Loya Jirga.