Karzai passes the buck on US troop ‘immunity’

Share

Deutsche Welle, 29 October 2013

Discussing the forthcoming Loya Jirga on the Afghan-US Bilateral Strategic Agreement, the German international radio’s website quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the status and importance of the Loya Jirga as an institution as well as on President Karzai’s motivation to call a Loya Jirga on the subject:

“The Afghan constitution says that in questions of immense national important a Loya Jirga can be called and that’s what Karzai is doing,” Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, told DW. “The Loya Jirga usually is doing what the current rulers want from them – that’s the experience from history.”

“The thing is there’s always a margin of error, of uncertainty in it,” Ruttig said. “So it can of course happen that – particularly if there’s an incident briefly before – the mood swings and the agreement falls through.” (…)

“[Karzai] needs to cover himself, because relations with the US – and particularly immunity and particularly after a couple of incidents where US soldiers went on killing sprees against Afghan civilians -are highly contentious,” Ruttig said. “If he just in his capacity as president goes ahead, he will be attacked [domestically].”