WASHINGTON: The U.S. will not allow the Afghanistan government to have any additional control of the military operations in that country. This was made clear to the visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai by President George Bush when the two leaders met at the White House today.
The two countries, however, agreed on the existing policy of the United States government consulting Afghanistan's officials before organizing any major military operations in the country.
President Bush did not also accede to an Afghan request to have a say in the matter of Afghan prisoners, who are detained as terrorists.
He said U.S. troops in Afghanistan will continue to report to American commanders and the prisoners can be released only when the U.S. officials are sure of the infrastructure in the country that can properly guard and care for them.
The two leaders, however, did not reveal their disagreements. Instead, they demonstrated camaraderie and highlighted the new strategic agreement they had signed, which promised continued economic and military help from the U.S. to help Afghanistan set up an effective democratic government.
Karzai said "Afghanistan will not suddenly stand on its own feet .... Politically, we would have done the process . . . but in terms of the institutional strength, Afghanistan will continue to need a lot of support."
There was a joint declaration, which said the U.S. will provide economic and military help, that it will help train the army and other security forces and work with Afghanistan in rooting out the remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida.
Bush said later: "I've got great faith in the future in Afghanistan. First, I've got great faith in the ability of democracy to provide hope. And I've got faith in this man as a leader. He has shown tremendous courage in the face of difficult odds."
Karzai clarified that Aghanistan does not hold the U.S. responsible for the recent report in Newsweek magazine on the desecration of the Koran desecration at Guantanamo Bay. "We are, as Muslims, very much unhappy with Newsweek bringing in a matter so serious in the gossip column. But Newsweek's story is not America's story. That's what we understand in Afghanistan," he said.
The report had led to large scale riots in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia and in Afghanistan alone 14 people had died.
Karzai had in fact wanted a commitment from the Bush administration that it will continue with its aid program after the fall when the three-year international support program ends.
The U.S. said its partnership with Afghanistan will center on controlling and eradicating the illegal opium trade. Afghanistan has made efforts in this direction and the supply nationwide has been cut by 20 to 30 percent in 2005.
Karzai feels the government will be able to eradicate this evil in five or six years, but he is worried about the livelihood of people who will be displaced. There can be alternative food crop cultivation like pomegranate and melons, which were widely grown before the opium trade became lucrative. The U.S. is hopeful the new economic package will take care of this need.
