US President Barack Obama’s surprise visit to Bagram has sparked many questions.
The US president told his troops at the sprawling US base that the withdrawal would go ahead as planned,
US President Barack Obama’s surprise visit to Bagram has sparked many questions.
The US president told his troops at the sprawling US base that the withdrawal would go ahead as planned, and 9,800 troops would remain only in an advisory role. He promised the war of the US in Afghanistan would have a “reasonable end”. Also al Qaeda forces against whom the US was waging war were on the “decline”.
Was the president addressing a US audience or Afghanistan? Was he promising to leave Afghanistan with a stability required to face the future?
Political watchers think President Obama’s statements were intended for the ears of Afghan politicians. Basheer Ahmad Beezhan is of the opinion that Obama was laying the framework for a future US-Afghan relationship. “Obama’s intention in Afghanistan was to influence the opinion of Afghan authorities. To make sure that after the pullout US interests in the region would be safeguarded,” he said.
In his opinion Washington’s primary interest would be to safeguard its current interests in the region, and ensure policy continuation.
Beezhan also believed the US president timed his visit at a moment when Afghanistan was preparing for a runoff in the presidential election as he wanted to establish good relations with a future government.
“It is not important any more for the US what type of relations it should have with President Karzai because a new government is set to come to power,” the political analyst observed.
US officials have made much of the fact that the two candidates in the runoff have announced their support for the Bilateral Security Arrangement (BSA), which will decide the military relationship between the two countries from 2015. President Karzai has refused to sign the BSA in its current form, saying he was leaving the decision to his successor.
In his speech in Bagram the president said he was ready to work with whoever wins the election. “I’m hopeful we will sign a bilateral security arrangement that lets us move forward,” he said.
The US president was in Kabul two years ago to sign a historic strategic partnership agreement with his Afghan counterpart. But noticeably the two did not meet on his night-time visit to Bagram on May 25.
Element of surprise
While the visit was kept a well-guarded secret for supposedly security reasons, voices here wonder why the US president did not arrange to make a meeting with Karzai possible. The president was invited to Bagram. However his office issued a statement saying he was ready to warmly welcome the US president according to Afghan customs but he would not be meeting him in Bagram.
Sayed Jamal Fakori Beheshti, a Member of Parliament (MP), blamed the US for breaching diplomatic protocol. “The president of the US entered Afghanistan without informing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and government officials, which is a breach of diplomacy,” he observed.
MPs expressed dismay that the US thought it correct to invite the president to Bagram. They backed the president’s decision to turn it down.
Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, MP from Herat, said, “Obama entered Afghanistan without prior information and against diplomatic custom so Karzai was well within his right to refuse to meet him.”
But some other MPs felt Karzai stayed away because of tensions between the two leaders. Relations have been strained for months now.
Ghulam Husain Nasiri, MP, said the president could have gone to Bagram. “Bagram is a part of Afghanistan. There would have been no problem if Karzai had met Obama,” he observed. His views were echoed by Engineer Zekria, another MP.
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