President Obama and Afghanistan

The White House: Read out of telephone call between President Obama and President Karzai of Afghanistan.    On the future relationship between the US and Afghanistan the President stated the following, " With regard to the Bilateral Security Agreement, in advance of the NATO Defense Ministerial, President Obama told President Karzai that because he has demonstrated that it is unlikely that he will sign the BSA, the United States is moving forward with additional contingency planning. Specifically, President Obama has asked the Pentagon to ensure that it has adequate plans 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. At the same time, should we have a BSA and a willing and committed partner in the Afghan government, a limited post-2014 mission focused on training, advising, and assisting Afghan forces and going after the remnants of core Al Qaeda could be in the interests of the United States and Afghanistan. Therefore, we will leave open the possibility of concluding a BSA with Afghanistan later this year.  However, the longer we go without a BSA, the more challenging it will be to plan and execute any U.S. mission. Furthermore, the longer we go without a BSA, the more likely it will be that any post-2014 U.S. mission will be smaller in scale and ambition. ".

Lets Get Real:

In the history of powers getting out of Afghanistan, the above statement that the US wants to keep troops in Afghanistan post 2014 must be the most foolish, any force left behind would come under the attack of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, what happens if these two forces are at the gates of Kabul, does the US just leave or does it find itself having to defend the new Government.   Lets hope Karzai gives the US a good reason to leave, otherwise the US will be stuck in Kabul and become target practice for various terrorists groups that will develop in Afghanistan.   The US should rent bases from the Government of Pakistan and just fly drones over Afghanistan, let it become a free fire zone, that will be a clear message, if your a threat your dead, simple and it has a tradition, the British Empire used to send over planes and drop bombs if the locals became a problem, will Obama learn this lesson, one doubts, its always hubris with THE Oval.