Afghanistan pushing back against smirk (perm. US bases)

[donsu]

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=11287


Afghan riots bode ill for US long-term plans

Riots and protests that have spread from Jalalabad to the Afghan capital in the wake of a report that US interrogators had desecrated the Koran have taken a political turn, with students demanding the government reject US intentions to create a permanent military presence there.

-snip-

Beyond the current desecration outrage, the students in Kabul were also engaged in other political issues, demanding that the Afghan government deny permanent military bases to the US. They said the creation of permanent US military bases would threaten the independence of Afghanistan. The demands come only days after US-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai got green light from more than 1,000 tribal elders and officials to go ahead with a partnership with the US that would most likely include the creation of permanent US military bases in the country. Putting a new spin on the protests, Karzai used the riots in Jalalabad on Wednesday to justify a permanent US presence, saying that the violence illustrated Afghanistan’s inability to deal with security threats on its own. Karzai commented on the events during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, RFE/RL reported. “The event this morning shows two things,” he said. “One, that Afghanistan is a democratic state. Two, that Afghanistan, as democratic state, is not yet ready with institutions to handle .” The specifically anti-American nature of the protests could jeopardize plans in Kabul and Washington to use Afghanistan as a permanent base for increasing US influence in Central Asia and the Middle East, containing Russian and Chinese influence in the region, and encircling Iran.

-snip-

Observers believe that permanent US military bases could be established shortly after Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections in September. The new parliament would have to approve the bases. Until recently, few analysts had expected any hitches in that process because it could count on broad-based political support. But this week’s protests could signal problems ahead. Observers believe that if the opposition - led by Yunus Qanuni, the Tajik politician who lost the presidency to Karzai in October last year - could make gains in September’s poll from anti-US sentiments by vocally opposing permanent US military bases in Afghanistan. “It’s quite clear that Karzai’s opponents will use the issue against him in the parliamentary elections,” Wadir Safi, a professor and a cabinet minister during the 1980s, told Reuters. In late April, before the riots, Qanuni indicated tacit support for the US presence in Afghanistan in an interview with the Pajhwok Afghan News agency. “Afghanistan must forge robust relations with <…> the United States,” he said, but added that “under the constitution, any decision on permanent US bases in Afghanistan must be taken by Parliament, not the Presidency.” But the unexpected development of public anti-US sentiments in the wake of the desecration report could very well provide Qanuni with the ammunition he needs for a September shakeup in Kabul that could hinder Washington’s plans for a deeper strategic relationship with Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan knows that fighting back is a life saving option

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Afghanistan? Never heard of it

/sarcasm

[tanyev]

2. Good luck, Afghanistan.

Bushco needs those bases to guard the pipeline. What the people of your country actually want appears to be irrelevant.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. I hope they're successful

I wish them tons of luck as well. I'm glad someone is putting up a fight against Bush. There's no need for it. If BinLaden did attack us on 9/11 (I still have those conspiracy theory thoughts in my head about all that) the reasoning is because we're in their land. They don't want us there and don't want any type of our presence there! This is only making it worse and is NOT helping with the "war on terror."