.Afghan forces want bigger role in Taliban fight
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Afghan government wants America to review its military strategy in Afghanistan and for Afghan troops to take over a larger share of military operations, the president's spokesman said Wednesday.
Humayun Hamidzada said President Hamid Karzai wants the war on terror taken to "its sanctuaries," code for militant safe havens in Pakistan. He said Afghanistan needs to be more involved in the planning and execution of the war.
"The president has said there is a need to review our relationship and the way we move forward and we need to make sure that Afghans, particularly on the issue of searches and arrest, are in the forefront," Hamidzada told The Associated Press during an interview at the heavily fortified presidential palace.
"We have to make sure that in the villages we don't burst into people's houses, we don't arrest people arbitrarily and we don't act on intelligence that is not verifiable," he said.
Karzai has already sent NATO headquarters a draft agreement that would give the Afghan government more say in future NATO deployments and would outlaw NATO troops from searching Afghan homes, according to a copy obtained by The AP.
Hamidzada said that international forces should be "mentors and as backup and support for our forces."
Security has deteriorated around Afghanistan the last three years as Taliban militants have taken control over wider areas of territory. The U.S. has some 33,000 troops in the country, but President Barack Obama is expected to send up to 30,000 more forces here this year.
The Afghan government, Hamidzada said, welcomes the deployment of additional troops to the border with Pakistan and to southern Helmand province, which the spokesman said is "pretty much out of our control."
Hamidzada said that Afghans are frustrated by the slow pace of development, rising insecurity, corruption and the heavy-handed methods of international forces.
"Seven years down the road and we are still facing problems that we were facing on day one," he said. "I am not talking just militarily. We don't have the basic services in Afghanistan. Let's go to electricity. I don't talk about having only four hours of electricity. It isn't hours of electricity - it is just minutes that we have."
Most Afghan homes in the capital of Kabul get only a short few hours of electricity every third day. Hamidzada said the Afghan government and the international community share the blame for the poor pace of development.
Concerning Obama's promise to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Hamidzada said that decision has Karzai's support.
The Afghan government eventually wants all Afghans detained both in Guantanamo and in U.S. custody at the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul to be tried in the Afghan judicial system. There are about 600 detainees in Bagram.
MyWay
fuck the pain away!
Humayun Hamidzada said President Hamid Karzai wants the war on terror taken to "its sanctuaries," code for militant safe havens in Pakistan. He said Afghanistan needs to be more involved in the planning and execution of the war.
"The president has said there is a need to review our relationship and the way we move forward and we need to make sure that Afghans, particularly on the issue of searches and arrest, are in the forefront," Hamidzada told The Associated Press during an interview at the heavily fortified presidential palace.
"We have to make sure that in the villages we don't burst into people's houses, we don't arrest people arbitrarily and we don't act on intelligence that is not verifiable," he said.
Karzai has already sent NATO headquarters a draft agreement that would give the Afghan government more say in future NATO deployments and would outlaw NATO troops from searching Afghan homes, according to a copy obtained by The AP.
Hamidzada said that international forces should be "mentors and as backup and support for our forces."
Security has deteriorated around Afghanistan the last three years as Taliban militants have taken control over wider areas of territory. The U.S. has some 33,000 troops in the country, but President Barack Obama is expected to send up to 30,000 more forces here this year.
The Afghan government, Hamidzada said, welcomes the deployment of additional troops to the border with Pakistan and to southern Helmand province, which the spokesman said is "pretty much out of our control."
Hamidzada said that Afghans are frustrated by the slow pace of development, rising insecurity, corruption and the heavy-handed methods of international forces.
"Seven years down the road and we are still facing problems that we were facing on day one," he said. "I am not talking just militarily. We don't have the basic services in Afghanistan. Let's go to electricity. I don't talk about having only four hours of electricity. It isn't hours of electricity - it is just minutes that we have."
Most Afghan homes in the capital of Kabul get only a short few hours of electricity every third day. Hamidzada said the Afghan government and the international community share the blame for the poor pace of development.
Concerning Obama's promise to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Hamidzada said that decision has Karzai's support.
The Afghan government eventually wants all Afghans detained both in Guantanamo and in U.S. custody at the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul to be tried in the Afghan judicial system. There are about 600 detainees in Bagram.
MyWay
fuck the pain away!
posted by madtom at 8:37 PM
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