Is Afghan President Rejecting US Security Pact Due to Mysterious Civilian Killings in Wardak Province?

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Truthout, 9 December 2013

The website quotes Matt Aikins who has discovered the killings in Wardak, saying that the incidents in Wardak have played a major role in reshaping Karzai’s stance towards the US and the BSA. And it extensively quotes AAN’s analysis of Karzai’s motivations:

“The negotiations surrounding the BSA are the only real leverage [Karzai] has over the U.S. and he clearly wants to make the most of it,” Martine van Bijlert, co-director of Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), told Occupy.com.

“If the U.S. forces do leave, they will probably do so amidst a crisis of confidence that will result not only in troop withdrawal, but also in the withdrawal of commitments of support. This is what many Afghans fear most, given that the Afghan government is not in a position to pay its own security forces and government salaries, and will not be in the years to come.

“The fact that the U.S. is unwilling to actively cooperate in a joint investigation strengthens the perception in Afghanistan that U.S. military forces can act as they wish and that nobody will hold them to account,” Bijlert continued. “This has long been one of Karzai’s main criticism’s and the basis for a deepening lack of trust between the two countries. And it is this lack of trust that is at the heart of the current tug-of-war over the signing of the BSA.”