KABUL, July 11 (Xinhua)-- The "zero option" announced by U.S. President Barack Obama, which in effect means that no U.S. troops will be left in Afghanistan after 2014, is a tool to pressure the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to agree to the controversial security pact with the U.S. that would govern Afghan- U.S. security relations after the 2014 pullout of foreign troops from the country.
"Since it is an open secret to everyone that the Taliban, al- Qaida and other militants are alive and the pullout of U.S. forces at this stage paves the way for the return of Taliban to power which is unacceptable to Afghans, Washington is clearly putting the pressure on Kabul,"Kabul University professor and political analyst Faizullah Jalal told Xinhua.
According Jalal, along with rise in the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, there is also an emerging rift between Washington and Kabul on how to deal with the security situation.
The perception in Washington is that President Karzai has failed to check corruption, control drug trading and to bring good governance to the country, Jalal said.
The conflict-ridden Afghanistan and U.S. had signed a strategic partnership agreement in May 2012, which would pave the way for the inking of a security pact between the two countries.
Washington and Kabul have been talking hard since late last year to overcome the obstacles and sign the controversial security pact, known as Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), to legalize the presence of limited U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 when some 100,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would have left the country.
However, President Karzai suspended the talks in the wake of opening of the Taliban office in Qatar in June, accusing the U.S. of attempting to marginalize Afghan government in the national peace process. Karzai insisted that any peace negotiations with the Taliban must be "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned." "It is not difficult to imagine that with the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan, the country will be plunged into a bloody civil war," Jalal said.
Jalal said that without the U.S. support, the fledgling Afghan security forces would be at risk of being disbanded, adding that the cash-strapped government may not be able to pay even the salaries of the soldiers.
He added that the total withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan would also mean the withdrawal of international community's support for the reconstruction of the country.
Expressing similar notion, another local analyst, Nazari Pariani, the editor in chief of leading newspaper the daily Mandegar, maintained that the withdrawal of U.S. troops would pave the way for the return to power of the Taliban that could eventually led to the resurgence of factional or sectarian fighting in the country. "Although President Obama's'zero option' is a warning to President Karzai to either sign the BSA or leave the country alone, Karzai should not also miscalculate that U.S. is in need of security pact with Afghanistan. Otherwise, the Iraq situation will be repeated here," Pariani observed, referring to failure of the U. S. and Iraq to have a security pact.
Meanwhile, the Right and Justice Party had expressed its concerns over the consequences of a total pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. In a statement released here, the party described the "zero option" as against the interest of both Afghan and U.S. as it called on Washington and Kabul to iron out their differences and sign the BSA.
Despite this call, the government of Afghanistan has categorically said that it is not in hurry to sign the proposed security pact. "The government of Afghanistan is not in a hurry to sign the security agreement. The agreement should ensure that it will benefit both countries," Afghan Presidential Spokesman Aimal Faizi said Tuesday in reacting to President Obama's so-called "zero option."
Faizi said that Afghanistan would sign the BSA with the U.S." provided that it guarantees a united Afghanistan with a strong unitary system and a capable security force. The BSA must ensure peace and security and strengthen Afghanistan's economy," Faizi emphasized.
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