Business Insider
Eloise Lee
During President Obama's "surprise visit" to Afghanistan yesterday, he met with President Karzai to sign off on a deal outlining U.S. commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014.
At the center of the agreement is U.S. funding, year after year, to equip and sustain Afghan security forces. After American troops withdraw, the U.S. will still be bound to the counterinsurgency. The war goes on.
But on page 4, the deal also affirms the U.S. will not set up a permanent military base in Afghanistan and will not use Afghan territory or facilities "as a launching point for attacks against other countries."
Aside from defense commitments and enhanced intelligence sharing, the two countries will strengthen relations with cultural efforts, including cooperation between their universities, and opportunities for Afghan youth and women. This could help ingrain more Western ideals in Afghanistan, or at least bolster some much needed cultural awareness between the two countries. The fight against Islamic extremism, while winning the hearts and minds of the local population, is a delicate and difficult mission that has been handled, at times, roughly over the last decade — causing protests and attacks on U.S. personnel by their own allies.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement following the signing, "It is a further expression of our shared goal of defeating al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates. It is a tangible sign of the strength and the resilience of the partnership that has been built between the United States and the Afghan people."
There's more outlined in the US Afghan Agreement, so check it out here, complete with Obama's and Karzai's signatures below:
Eloise Lee
During President Obama's "surprise visit" to Afghanistan yesterday, he met with President Karzai to sign off on a deal outlining U.S. commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014.
At the center of the agreement is U.S. funding, year after year, to equip and sustain Afghan security forces. After American troops withdraw, the U.S. will still be bound to the counterinsurgency. The war goes on.
But on page 4, the deal also affirms the U.S. will not set up a permanent military base in Afghanistan and will not use Afghan territory or facilities "as a launching point for attacks against other countries."
Aside from defense commitments and enhanced intelligence sharing, the two countries will strengthen relations with cultural efforts, including cooperation between their universities, and opportunities for Afghan youth and women. This could help ingrain more Western ideals in Afghanistan, or at least bolster some much needed cultural awareness between the two countries. The fight against Islamic extremism, while winning the hearts and minds of the local population, is a delicate and difficult mission that has been handled, at times, roughly over the last decade — causing protests and attacks on U.S. personnel by their own allies.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement following the signing, "It is a further expression of our shared goal of defeating al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates. It is a tangible sign of the strength and the resilience of the partnership that has been built between the United States and the Afghan people."
There's more outlined in the US Afghan Agreement, so check it out here, complete with Obama's and Karzai's signatures below:
US Afghan Pact
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