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Related: About this forumAfghanistan’s president says NATO can speed up handover of security to Afghan forces
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/nato-to-remain-in-afghanistan-until-2014-despite-calls-for-quicker-withdrawal/2012/10/18/ae1d647c-18f7-11e2-a346-f24efc680b8d_story.htmlAfghanistans president says NATO can speed up handover of security to Afghan forces
By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, October 18, 9:06 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday the nations military and police are ready and willing to take full responsibility for security in the country if the U.S.-led international coalition decides to speed up the handover to Afghan government forces.
With support for the already unpopular war fading in the West, there has been growing speculation that NATO could accelerate withdrawal plans that currently call for the security transition to Afghan forces to be complete by the end of 2014, when all foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave the country.
Afghans are ready to expedite the process of transition if necessary, and willing as well, Karzai said during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. So this is in all aspects good news for us and good news for NATO.
A NATO diplomat said there was no discussion of speeding up the 2014 timeline during the meeting between Karzai and the alliance chief. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with alliances regulations, said Karzai was eager to see the next stage of transition, which would have Afghan forces take charge of security for almost the entire country.
unhappycamper comment: 2+ billion dollars a week that this occupation is costing could be used in this country to fix infrastructure, education, women's health, etc., etc. etc.
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Afghanistan’s president says NATO can speed up handover of security to Afghan forces (Original Post)
unhappycamper
Oct 2012
OP
littlemissmartypants
(22,658 posts)1. Yep he is ready to
bring in the replacements...
Zhou Yongkang (left), ranked ninth in Chinas ruling Communist Party hierarchy, is welcomed by Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Anwar Ul-haq Ahady in Kabul on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua
Top security official Zhou Yongkang makes landmark Afghan visit Sunday, 23 September, 2012
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1044343/top-security-official-zhou-yongkang-makes-landmark-afghan-visit
...
LMSP commentary:
So the mineral assets of the country won't go "Unexploited" like the troops and the locals...
Please visit this link and sign. Thank you.
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/president-hamid-karzai-prevent-destruction-of-ancient-site-of-mes-aynak-the-environmental-damage-3
Zhou Yongkang (left), ranked ninth in Chinas ruling Communist Party hierarchy, is welcomed by Afghan Commerce and Industry Minister Anwar Ul-haq Ahady in Kabul on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua
Top security official Zhou Yongkang makes landmark Afghan visit Sunday, 23 September, 2012
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1044343/top-security-official-zhou-yongkang-makes-landmark-afghan-visit
Chinas top security official has made the first high-level trip to Afghanistan by a senior Chinese leader in nearly half a century, meeting President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, state media said on Sunday.
Zhou Yongkang made the four-hour visit on Saturday, in a secretive trip aimed at shoring up ties between the neighbours, Xinhua news agency reported.
The visit was not previously announced due to security concerns, the report said. Late president Liu Shaoqi, the last senior Chinese official to visit Afghanistan, visited in 1966, Xinhua said.
Karzais office said Zhou came to the war-battered nation to discuss the implementation of a strategic co-operation agreement that Karzai signed with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in June.
During a meeting with Zhou in his Kabul palace, Karzai said: China is a good and honest friend of Afghanistan, his office said in a statement.
Beijing has stepped up diplomacy with Afghanistan in recent months as the 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of US and Nato troops approaches.
China, which shares a 76-kilometre border with Afghanistans far northeast, has already secured major oil and copper mining concessions in Afghanistan, which is believed to have more than US$1 trillion worth of minerals.
Karzai urged China to further invest in his poverty-stricken nations underground treasures, the palace statement said.
The scramble for influence in Afghanistan is expected to intensify in the run-up to 2014, with its central position in a volatile region having shaped its history for centuries.
Xinhua provided few details about the visit, other than quoting Zhou as saying: It is in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples for China and Afghanistan to strengthen a strategic and cooperative partnership... conducive to regional peace, stability and development.
Zhou, ranked ninth in Chinas ruling Communist Party hierarchy, is Chinas top security official and oversees a crackdown on religious extremism, terrorism and separatism in his nations Muslim-populated Xinjiang region, which borders Central Asia and Afghanistan.
...
LMSP commentary:
So the mineral assets of the country won't go "Unexploited" like the troops and the locals...
Please visit this link and sign. Thank you.
http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/president-hamid-karzai-prevent-destruction-of-ancient-site-of-mes-aynak-the-environmental-damage-3