By Jonathan S. Landay and Ali Safi, McClatchy Newspapers –
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan late Tuesday to sign a far-reaching pact governing U.S. support for the embattled nation after U.S. combat forces are gone at the end of 2014, but the trip’s intense secrecy was compromised by leaks to local media.
Obama’s extraordinary visit appeared intended as a personal assurance to Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the United States won’t abandon Afghanistan after most U.S. forces are gone. By flying all the way to Kabul for the signing, arriving after 10 p.m. local time, Obama also would be seen as paying respect to Karzai, whom the Taliban denounce as “a puppet” of the United States.
His visit — on the eve of the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in neighboring Pakistan — apparently was aimed at reassuring ordinary Afghans as well. Many are deeply worried that the departure of U.S. combat forces will energize the Taliban-led insurgency, igniting a new spiral of mayhem and bloodshed.
Obama’s trip, his third to Afghanistan, began in enormous secrecy to ensure strict security just over two weeks after insurgent attacks penetrated the security rings of Kabul and three provincial capitals. But word that Obama was coming leaked to Afghan news media Tuesday evening, hours before he arrived, igniting furious denials by the U.S. Embassy, the White House and the presidential palace.
Obama landed at 10:20 p.m. at Bagram Air Base, the largest U.S. military base in the country, just north of Kabul, according to a White House press pool report. He then helicoptered into the city to the fortress-like presidential palace, where he joined Karzai for the low-key signing ceremony. The growl of prowling helicopter gunships echoed across Kabul’s nighttime sky.
The text of the new agreement has been kept secret since it was initialed on April 22 by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Karzai’s national security adviser, Rangin Spanta.
McClatchy Newspapers, however, obtained a copy of the nine-page pact. It comprises a preamble and seven provisions covering all facets of the future relationship, from a U.S. vow to help defend Afghanistan against al-Qaida and other threats, to Kabul’s commitment to “inclusive and pluralistic democratic governance, including free, fair and transparent elections.”
“Afghanistan and the United States … commit to strengthen long-term strategic cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including: advancing peace, security, and reconciliation; strengthening state institutions; supporting Afghanistan’s long-term economic and social development; and encouraging regional cooperation,” the preamble states.
The pact binds the sides to close defense cooperation to bolster Afghanistan’s security, “combat al-Qaida and its affiliates,” and enhance Afghanistan’s ability to defend itself. Afghanistan would be designated a “major non-NATO ally,” which brings U.S. defense and financial help not normally available to countries that don’t belong to the alliance.
The sides are to negotiate a separate bilateral security agreement governing the number of U.S. troops and Pentagon civilians to remain in Afghanistan after 2014 to train Afghan forces and to provide them with intelligence and logistics support. The sides would try to finalize that accord within a year.
The United States and its NATO allies are in the midst of transferring security responsibilities to Afghan forces, a phased process that is to end with the departure of all U.S. and allied combat troops by December 2014. Some 10,000 U.S. troops left last year, and another 20,000 are to go this year.
U.S. and NATO officials say that Afghan security forces are increasingly taking the lead in operations against the Taliban-led insurgency, and they express confidence that with continued support, the Afghans will be able to hold their own.
Some Afghan officers and soldiers, however, are very worried that the army, which is plagued by nepotism, corruption and ethnic tensions, won’t withstand the strain, especially if Pakistan continues providing sanctuary and other support to the Taliban and allied extremists.
The United States would provide annual funding “to support the training, equipping, advising and sustaining” of Afghan security forces “so that Afghanistan can independently secure and defend itself against internal and external threats” and prevent terrorists from re-establishing bases in the country, the new pact says. It doesn’t set a yearly amount of U.S. security aid, something that Karzai had sought.
In return, Afghanistan will provide U.S. forces with “continued access to and use of Afghan facilities and beyond as may be agreed” to fight al-Qaida and its affiliates and for training Afghan security forces and for other missions.
The United States “affirms that it does not seek permanent military facilities in Afghanistan, or a presence that is a threat to Afghanistan’s neighbors,” the pact says. Washington also “pledges not use Afghan territory” to launch attacks against other countries, an apparent reference to neighboring Iran.
The accord reiterates the already established guidelines for a political settlement with the Taliban-led insurgency: The insurgents would have to sever all ties with al-Qaida, renounce violence and embrace the Afghan constitution, “including its protections for all Afghan women and men.”
Little progress, however, has been made toward a peace accord. The Taliban announced on March 15 that they were suspending secret contacts they had been having with U.S. officials on possible peace talks. The Taliban also steadfastly refused to include Karzai’s government in the effort.
Like the Afghan commitment to free and fair polls, many of the pact’s provisions could prove overly ambitious or impossible to fulfill. These include Kabul’s pledges to “ensure and advance the essential role of women in society,” “fight decisively against all forms of corruption” and enforce anti-corruption laws.
Parliamentary polls in 2010 and a 2009 presidential election were rife with fraud, and the country is still struggling with democratic practices and institutions. Warlords and tribal barons wield enormous power across Afghanistan and regularly subvert the law, relying on personal networks, bribery and force to advance their interests.
Karzai’s government has failed to prosecute a single high-profile corruption case, including a bank scandal involving one of his brothers.
Many experts and women activists, meanwhile, complain that the government hasn’t done enough to advance women’s rights or end the abuse of women, widespread problems in Afghanistan’s male-dominated conservative tribal society.
Under the accord, the U.S. also would continue aiding Afghanistan’s economic development and programs to bolster education, agriculture, trade and improve governance.
The sides wanted to conclude the strategic partnership agreement before a NATO summit later this month in Chicago, at which alliance members are expected to pledge long-term financial and military assistance to Afghanistan.
It took more than a year and a half to finalize the accord. The negotiations were held up by differences over counterinsurgency operations known as “night raids” and the assumption by Afghanistan of control of U.S.-run detention centers, viewed by Kabul as a matter of national sovereignty.
In March, U.S. and Afghan officials signed a memorandum of understanding under which U.S. forces are to transfer control of Afghan detainees to the Afghan government by September, eliminating one stumbling block.
The second hurdle was cleared last month, with the sides reaching an agreement for Afghan special operations forces to assume the leading role in conducting night raids. U.S. special forces units will provide support, but only Afghan commandos are allowed to search Afghan homes, and all operations must comply with Afghan law.
The U.S.-led operations have badly hurt the Taliban-led insurgency. But they’ve also claimed civilian casualties, making them extremely unpopular among many Afghans and creating political problems and embarrassing Karzai, who has furiously denounced them.
The United States and its allies have estimated that Afghan security forces will require about $4 billion annually after 2014, with the bulk expected to come from Washington.
The World Bank estimates that the deeply impoverished country will have a $7 billion budget shortfall after 2014.
