Obama Looks Beyond Karzai

 President Obama, apparently resigned to President Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a long-term security agreement with the United States before he leaves office. A phone call on Tuesday revealed that the President has told the Pentagon to start planning for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Obama in a message for the incumbent ruler in Afghanistan stated that he is still open to leaving limited troops in the region in order to conduct counter terrorism efforts as well as conduct training. The bilateral security agreement or the, B.S.A., is unlikely to be signed by Mr. Karzai and as Obama has pointed out a breach in their international cooperation. Obama states that the earlier that the agreement is assigned the less troops that the U.S. will continue to remain in the region. Experts speculate that a signed agreement will not come until after the April elections but this also proves that the administration has moved away from their stance on a pullout if the B.S.A. was not signed before the elections. “Clearly, the president is putting pressure on Karzai without closing the door on B.S.A. just as he is preparing the ground for the possibility that B.S.A. may not happen,” said Vali Nasr. Looking to the elections in April, all of the candidates up for election have agreed that they would sign the agreements once in office but many speculate that this may be wishful thinking. The future of Aghan relations seems uncertain as ever, as NATO officials have begun Summer 2015 deployment plans if the agreement were to fall through. The international relations between these two countries is tumultuous in nature and only time will tell what will happen in this region.


 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/world/asia/obama-keeps-options-open-in-afghanistan.html?ribbon-ad-idx=3&rref=world/asia&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific&action=click&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article


Katelyn Krumreich