For Afghans, Obama’s SOTU message on US troops was loud and clear

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Stars and Stripes, 29 January 2014

In a report about Afghan reactions to President Obama’s State of the Union address, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted:

Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said Obama did not indicate what the consequences might be if Karzai does not sign the agreement.

“For me, the most important word in that text on that issue is that there’s a big ‘If,’ ” Ruttig said, referring to a transcript of the speech.

Ruttig said patience with Karzai in the U.S. Congress is clearly wearing thin — as evidenced by a recent vote slashing humanitarian and military aid to Afghanistan — and the American public is tired of American servicemembers dying there.

But Afghans are still at war, he added, and many paid close attention to Obama’s speech, which many Afghan TV stations aired in full with translations in the local languages.