Obama orders Pentagon to prepare for full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

[babylonsister]

Obama orders Pentagon to prepare for full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

President speaks with Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and says US is ‘moving forward with additional contingency planning’

Spencer Ackerman and Dan Roberts in Washington
The Guardian, Tuesday 25 February 2014 14.57 EST



Barack Obama formally ordered the Pentagon on Tuesday to make plans for a full pullout of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, pointing to a way out of the conflict that is reminiscent of his end to the Iraq campaign.

While the Obama administration reiterated that it would prefer to maintain a residual military presence in Afghanistan, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has refused to sign an accord that would pave the way for some US forces to remain. That has forced the administration to begin a contingency plan for a full departure after Nato formally ends hostilities in November.

A similar rebuke from the Iraqi government prompted all almost all US troops to leave there in 2011.

Obama told Karzai during a Tuesday morning phone call that while he would prefer Karzai or his successor to sign the so-called bilateral security agreement reached with the Afghans in November, “the United States is moving forward with additional contingency planning,” according to a White House description of the call.

more...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/obama-pentagon-us-troops-withdrawal-afghanistan

[leftyohiolib]

1. i'll believe it when i see it. isnt this because karzai wouldnt grant troops immunity against the

acts the troops commit

[babylonsister]

2. Got a link? I never heard that. nt

[leftyohiolib]

3. no i nor am i saying that this is true- i remember hearing that was part of the deal but i cant say

that it was removed. i was asking not informing. i know i heard it and then i heard norman goldman talking about it but not sure if it was this deal and i havent been able to find a link

[JoePhilly]

6. We were never going to leave Iraq either.

DADT was never going to end.

We were definitely going to invade Libya, Eqypt, Iran, and Syria.

So clearly, we're never leaving Afghanistan.

[leftyohiolib]

11. if they hold our troops accountable for events in afghanistan then we'll be gone tomorrow

[leftyohiolib]

5. here

The sticking point in both Afghanistan and Iraq was protecting U.S. troops from local prosecution while on foreign soil. The U.S. argues that subjecting its troops to punishment under the Pentagon’s Uniformed Code of Military Justice is adequate. But outsiders—particularly those who view the U.S. military as invaders or occupiers—don’t always see it that way.

Read more: War in Afghanistan likely to get longer for U.S. troops | TIME.com http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/18/americas-longest-war-likely-to-get-longer/#ixzz2uOXp0c47

although it looks like it was iraq the trbl exists in both coutries

After the Iraqi government insisted that U.S. troops would have to be subject to Iraqi justice if they stayed beyond 2011, the U.S. pulled out.

Read more: War in Afghanistan likely to get longer for U.S. troops | TIME.com http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/18/americas-longest-war-likely-to-get-longer/#ixzz2uOYDIEsz

[Cha]

4. This is such progress.. finally we are leaving Afghanistan

I wish the Afghani People all the Best Luck in the World.

from your link, babylonsistah..

"..But defense secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday that it was prudent “to ensure adequate plans are in place to accomplish an orderly withdrawal by the end of the year should the United States not keep any troops in Afghanistan after 2014”

Hagel said that over the next several months, the US military will prepare “various options” for US and Nato leaders, including a full withdrawal of the approximately 37,000 US troops in Afghanistan, as well as the post-2014 missions of counter-terrorism and training for the Afghan security forces it has long desired."

[davidpdx]

7. +1

[kelliekat44]

8. Have to get that jobs bill going, Mr. President. nt

[JimDandy]

9. So this isn't an orchestrated win/win like with Iraq?

The Iraqi government got to look tough on the Americans in the eyes of their people by not signing such an accord and our government got to look tough while actually getting our soldiers out of there, which is what the American public wanted.

Same thing all over again with Afghanistan.

[AgingAmerican]

10. RW heads exploding in 10...9...8...7...