New Afghanistan Pact Means America's Longest War Will Last Until At Least 2024 And 'Beyond'

[Purveyor]

Bilateral security deal ensures that President Obama will pass off the Afghanistan war and his new war in Iraq and Syria to his successor

The Guardian, Tuesday 30 September 2014 12.28 EDT

The longest war in American history will last at least another decade, according to the terms of a garrisoning deal for US forces signed by the new Afghanistan government on Tuesday.

Long awaited and much desired by an anxious US military, the deal guarantees that US and Nato troops will not have to withdraw by year’s end, and permits their stay “until the end of 2024 and beyond.”

The entry into force of the deal ensures that Barack Obama, elected president in 2008 on a wave of anti-war sentiment, will pass off both the Afghanistan war and his new war in Iraq and Syria to his successor. In 2010, his vice-president, Joe Biden, publicly vowed the US would be “totally out” of Afghanistan “come hell or high water, by 2014.”

Obama called Tuesday “a historic day” for the US and Afghanistan, as the security pact, which puts US troops beyond the reach of Afghan law, “will help advance our shared interests and the long-term security of Afghanistan.”

The primary explicit purpose of the deal, known as the Bilateral Security Agreement, is to permit the US to continue training Afghanistan’s roughly 350,000 security forces, which the US and Nato have built from scratch.

more...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/us-troops-afghanistan-2024-obama-bilateral-security-agreement

Well, since I don't see the 'high water'...it must be HELL that is upon us...

[Sopkoviak]

1. GOTV!

N/M

[Purveyor]

2. yeah...good luck with that. eom

[Doctor_J]

6. What exactly will that do about the subject in the OP?

[CaptainTruth]

3. America's longest "war?" How quickly people forget, or just aren't aware ...

Ever hear of Korea? We've had troops there for over 60 years. I was surprised how many I saw every time I went to Seoul.

Keeping troops in an area does not necessarily mean those troops will be actively engaged in "war." It means they will be available to take quick action if something threatens a country or region, like North Korea threatening South Korea. Also, their presence can act as a deterrent to agression, thus helping to stabilize a region & prevent war.

All this talk about "America's longest war" & the frenzy in the media (& elsewhere) going on about "why are we leaving troops there so long" has zero credibility with me because these same people have not said a word about Korea, or any of the other hundreds of places around the world where the US has had troops for decades, some since the end of WWII.

That's the kind of logical inconsistency I usually associate with Republicans & right wingnuts, complaining loudly about agreements to leave troops in one place for 10 years while ignoring agreements that have left troops in other places for over 60 years.

[KoKo]

4. How does he explain this?

To those of us who voted for him based on his promises to end both wars?

It's shocking, really.

[Doctor_J]

7. I envy you your ability to still be shocked

The ACA and extension of the Bush Billionaires' tax cut ended that phase of my infatuation with the president.

[TheKentuckian]

5. Better edit/delete "The List", the "ended two wars" line rings damn hollow.