Along with Vetos on US Interrogations, Afghanistan Gets a 10-Year Commitment
According to reports (VOA, AP, NYT) the US and Afghanistan have finalized their agreement on night raids. In addition to the night raid partnership detailed earlier in the week, the finalized agreement resolves the dispute over what happens to prisoners taken in night raids by giving Afghans authority to deny US interrogators access to detainees captured in night raids.
Also, Afghan authorities will have control over prisoners taken in night raids and will decide whether to allow U.S. interrogators access to detainees.
How long will it take for Karzai’s government to effectively put US Special Forces to work abusing his political enemies?
But look on the bright side! The news we’ve finally reached a night raids agreement means we can look forward to 10 more years of propping up the Afghan Army.
General Allen said the signing meant that the two countries were “ready to look forward to a successful summit in Chicago in the wake of the signing of the strategic partnership agreement.”
The strategic partnership agreement commits the United States to another decade of involvement in the country in areas like economic development and education.
The meeting in Chicago is a NATO summit at which countries involved in the war are expected to commit to continuing financial contributions to Afghanistan as well as committing to train and equip the forces.
Not that I expect the Karzai regime (or whoever runs to replace him in 2014) to remain in power that long. But think about how many teachers in the US we’ll get to fire to pay for 10 more years in Afghanistan.
Here’s a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding on Special Operations (4 page PDF).
Note the words like “intent”, “should”, “as required”. And take particular note of Item 9 in the Final Provisions section which reads as follows:
So let’s unpack that item, shall we?
First, it only applies to Afghan nationals. Any non-Afghan detained by U.S. Forces can stil be held forever, and done with as U.S. Forces see fit.
Second, it only applies to persons detained outside of special operations. This seems to suggest that any person detained as a result of special operations, whether that person is an Afghan national or not, can still be detained by whomever wants to detain that person for however long they want to detain that person.
If folks come to the conclusion that the US can still do anything it wants under the guise of special operations, give yourself a gold star. You’ve earned it!
‘The strategic partnership agreement commits the United States to another decade of involvement in the country in areas like economic development and education.’
Well, shut the front door! Nobody saw that coming./snark
Another US economic hit. Isn’t it wonderful we can do all these nice things for other countries at the tip of a few thousand rifles? I certainly hope we pay for the finest and most up to date infrastructure systems for them.
War has been great for Afghanistan. From 2001-2010 Afghan GDP increased 600%. http://bit.ly/z9eufn That’s probably the fastest growing economy in the world! Mission accomplished. Just think of all the new jobs that have been created. And now for the real money – ten more years of training, arming & rebuilding infrastructure. So there’s a little violence. As they say, you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs!
@PeasantParty:
‘The strategic partnership agreement commits the United States to another decade of involvement in the country in areas like economic development and education.’
Actually, IMHO, this is the best part of the whole deal. We’d have been better all along to be spending our money in Afghanistan on economic development and education, rather than military operations.
Bob in AZ
@MadDog: Yeah, I agree–the agreement doesn’t actually give Afghans custody of people in night raids, nor does it give custody for non-Afghans taken in other situations.
@Bob Schacht: True. Except that at this point it does nothing but foster more corruption–the money often goes straight into bank accounts in Dubai.
@Bob Schacht: I agree with that for the third year of occupation. Too bad we’ve spent the lives of too many people from across the globe in this farce. It is long past the time for rebuilding and supporting a nation that we destroyed along with our own global standing.
“How long will it take for Karzai’s government to effectively put US Special Forces to work abusing his political enemies?”
Marine General Smedley Butler would find this all too familiar. It makes being head of the gendarmerie in the Dominican Republic and safety director of Philadelphia during prohibition seem like a cake walk.
Next thing you know, the US will declare Afghanistan a “customs protectorate”, as we did throughout the Caribbean. Instead of using that power to collect debts due National City Bank (and to prevent European banks from being paid or getting loans in the first place), we could add a backhander onto Afghanistan’s opium-related exports. A small percentage on those supposedly illegal exports might actually pay for part of our warfare/intelligence collecting efforts.