The stakes are high as Afghan tribal elders and other regional
leaders met behind closed doors for a second day to debate the
draft agreement seen as necessary to enable thousands of
American soldiers to stay beyond a 2014 deadline primarily to
train and mentor government security forces who are still
struggling to face a resilient Taliban insurgency on their own.
Karzai stunned the U.S. when he urged delegates on Thursday's
opening day of the consultative council known as the Loya Jirga
to approve the security pact but said he will leave it to his
successor to sign it after the April 5 elections.
His spokesman Aimal Faizi stuck to that stance on Friday
despite U.S. pleas, saying "there is no deadline for us except
what the president said in his speech."
The Obama administration has said it will pull all its forces
out of Afghanistan without a security deal, as it did when Iraq
failed to sign a similar agreement. U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry called Karzai on Friday and warned that "further delay is
not practical, nor is it tenable," State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said.
"Failure to conclude (the deal) ... would be seen as a signal
to the world that Afghanistan is not committed to a partnership
with its supporters and that it is willing to jeopardize all of
the financial and practical help that has been offered," Psaki
said.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks to go after al-Qaida, which was being
sheltered by the Taliban. The longest and costliest war in U.S.
history has proven deeply unpopular at home and among its
allies, who also have said they will not commit any troops after
2014 unless the security deal is signed.
The exit of all foreign forces would jeopardize the more than
$8 billion that has been pledged annually to fund Afghan
security forces and help with the country's development.
Underscoring that point, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
said Friday he can't recommend that President Barack Obama
continue planning for a post-2014 force in Afghanistan unless
Afghan leaders promptly sign the security agreement.
Hagel said that without an agreement the U.S. will have no
clear understanding of what the Afghan people want, what an
acceptable role for U.S. forces will be or how to carry out that
mission. He was speaking to reporters before the start of a
security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.