Hamid Karzai Toughens Stance on Afghanistan Security Deal with US

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai continues to refuse to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would allow some form of American troops to stay in Afghanistan after the end of 2014. All troops are due to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of the year. President Karzai stated that "the U.S. should leave Afghanistan unless it could restart peace talks with the Taliban." The President believes that peace talks with the Taliban will ensure that signing the BSA will not lead to Afghanistan being dividing into fiefdoms. President Karzai's tough stance concerning the BSA has led many diplomats to agree he is unlikely to sign the agreement. Many believe further discussion with the president may be useless and waiting for his successor to be elected will yield the desired results. One diplomat was stated as saying, "The more people speak about it being signed after the election, the more irrelevant he becomes," said one diplomat. "Sad as it is, we might have to bank on the next guy." The U.S. has threatened to pull out all of the troops before 2014 unless the BSA is signed. However, embassies are still examining alternative solutions that would enable the NATO mission to continue.

The Afghan president originally agreed to sign a part of the pact in November, but has since changed his mind. Tensions concerning the signing of the BSA became more apparent when President Karzai took off the air advertisements lobbying for signature of the agreement claiming the ads were "serious propaganda" that has "harmed the psyche and soul of the people of Afghanistan." The President stiffened his resolve by adding, "No pressure, no threat, no psychological war can force us to sign the BSA. If they want to leave, they should leave today. We will continue our living."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/25/hamid-karzai-toughens-stance-security-deal-us