Karzai Says Afghan Army Will Need Help Until 2024

[laststeamtrain]

Source: NYT

Karzai Says Afghan Army Will Need Help Until 2024

By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: December 8, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan — In the latest sign of the enduring financial costs of the Afghan war for the United States and other NATO countries, President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that Afghanistan would not be able to pay for its own security until at least 2024.

Mr. Karzai’s comments underscored his government’s long-term dependence on American and NATO funding just hours after as many as a dozen people were killed during an American raid in Laghman Province east of Kabul, Afghan officials said, prompting hundreds of villagers to march in protest.

The early morning operation outside the provincial capital of Mehtar Lam happened “without any coordination with the Afghan forces or Afghan officials,” said Sayed Ahmed Safi, a spokesman for the governor of Laghman.

<snip>

NATO confirmed the raid and said seven militants were killed but said there were no “reports to substantiate those claims of harming civilians, including women and children.” The raid targeted a Taliban bomb maker. A military spokesman said he did not know whether the troops involved were American or from another NATO country.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/world/asia/09gates.html

[laststeamtrain]

1. Afghanistan Can't Fund Security Forces For 15-20 Years - Karzai

Afghanistan Can't Fund Security Forces For 15-20 Years - Karzai


KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP)--Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that his country lacked the resources to fund its own security forces for the next 15 to 20 years.

"For 15 to 20 years, Afghanistan will not be able to sustain a force of that nature and capability with its own resources," Karzai told a joint news conference with visiting U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

He was speaking following talks with Gates on how Washington intends to implement a sweeping new war strategy to send 30,000 extra American troops to fight the Taliban, in a bid to start withdrawing U.S. forces from July 2011. ... http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091208-702398.html

[AndyA]

2. What a shame...America can't afford the resources to fund security either.

America can't afford the resources to fund security for another day, much less for another 15 to 20 years!

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. Actually, what we pay for a single brigade of US troops would pay for

pretty much ALL of the Afghan army for a year.

The best way for the Afghans to get the support they need would be to facility our troop withdrawal.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

3. Plenty good money to be made... keep the dollar spigot turned on as long as you can you corrupt MFer

[earcandle]

4. Somebody tell him the Allah helps those who help themselves!

We don't need more cops on the planet.  Especially ones who
will want revenge for all that we have done to them. 

[NOW tense]

5. Support the war

give up your health care, jobs, and climate change legislation. They are just too expensive...

[Jefferson23]

6. Karzai is more likely to receive help until 2024 than I am to see a single payer health care system

[Tempest]

7. Karzai: I plan to stay in office until 2024

And I need NATO's support in order to fight back any opposition.

[newspeak]

27. exactly!!!!

Remember Karzai was appointed by the * administration. To me, he's nothing but a corporate stooge, and I wonder how long he would last without US support.

[dkf]

8. Isn't this obviously why there is no security without a complete overhaul of Afghanistan?

Pah. We will be pouring money and resources into this money pit for decades. It's not worth it.

[Bragi]

9. Is 2024 when the next fraudulent election is planned? /nt

[timo]

10. tough shit

fuckem and feed'em pork n beans, that goes for all the rest of the sorry bastard countries that we support, our foreign aid is ridiculos and a giant watse of money!!!!

[Vinnie From Indy]

11. Karzai is INSANE

This is absolutely the most delusional comment made this year by any politician anywhere on the planet. I would hope and pray that tens of millions of Americans would take to the streets long before that to protest this war.

[Robb]

15. No, he's just playing his cards.

Karzai knows Obama's administration is going to try to bypass him, going straight to villages instead of relying on warlords (or whatever he's calling himself) to keep them in line.

Karzai's positioned himself with the locals as a conduit to America. Karzai's trying to make sure the public thinks they have no chance of governing themselves, and they need him (and American $$) to survive.

[Vinnie From Indy]

22. Yep!

I agree totally with you about Karzai. There is no doubt that to stay alive and prosper as he and his family have in Aghnaistan, you have to be a calculating, mean SOB. Karzai is not stupid and his comment is certainly posturing, but I hope the average American perceives that comment as being insane so we can get the hell out of there.

[bvar22]

12. !

Meet Hamid Karzai
or as Obama calls him, "The Government of Afghanistan".

He was appointed by Bush the Lesser to run Afghanistan.
Before Obama, he was one of the most despicable criminals in The World,
But NOW we like him so much
that our children will be dying to keep him in power.

[AlphaCentauri]

13. and a welfare check until 2100 right?

[Wilms]

14. Hey. I'm broke.

:shrug:

[saigon68]

16. A Corrupt Criminal enterprise out of control

[Javaman]

17. Karzai expects to be president for life? nt

[Turbineguy]

18. He turns 65 in 2002

I guess he didn't want to be too obvious.

[Snazzy]

19. Sounds like Hamid is crunching numbers on his 401k again

there's what, like 24 million people in Afghanistan. Put 1 year of war spending in account for each of them and they would all be multi-millionaires by 2024. That's more than $34,000 each just this year on US spending alone (about $860 billion so far).

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf

[Octafish]

20. Hey! When'll Detroit get some help?

And Gary? And Toledo? And Milwaukee? And Buffalo? And Cleveland? And Flint? And...

[dipsydoodle]

21. Somebody mentioned yesterday

there is a million US$'s per day leaving the country from one single airport alone.

Tell him to fuck off.

[One_Life_To_Give]

23. Translation: Lets You and Them fight nt

[ThomThom]

25. Then he needs to take out a loan and finance it like everyone else

Why should we borrow money to keep them afloat?

[classysassy]

26. Democracy in action

When are we going to wakeup and realize we are being screwed by those crooks in congress and their criminal pals?.They the congresscritters and the foreign crooks that pay no tax but benifit from the poor suckers here in America,we are broke people,we are owned by the foreigners(China) and the oil boys.Wakeup its evening in America and we are so screwed.

[happyslug]

28. Karzi would be 67 years old, he be eligible for Social Security and could retire

Karzai was born on 24 December 1957
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai

A person of Karzai birth had to wait till he turns 67 before he gets his full Social Security Check (He can still retire at 62, but at a reduce rate). So we have his plan, keep US money going into Afghanistan so he can steal as much as possible till he retires at age 67 and can retire to the US and collect Social Security.

Remember Nguyễn Văn Thiệu of South Vietnam? Thieu was President of South Vietnam from 1967 till nine days before the Communist took Saigon in 1975 (He looted a good portion of the Aid the US supplied South Vietnam and when he left nine days before the Communists took over he loaded a plane with even more goodies and skipped out and lived in luxury till his death in 2001). Karzi is following the same program, loot US aid till the opposition takes over and then skip out with the loot.
For more on Thieu:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_V%C4%83n_Thi%E1%BB%87u

[EFerrari]

31. Not to mention, his forecast is optimistic!

[happyslug]

32. That Congress will keep 67 as the age to retire on Social Security?

You never now, Congress may raise retirement age to age 70, and then he has to hold on for three more years before he can retire on Social Security.

Oh, you mean Afghanistan? Whenever we go broke, we will pull out, remember the old observation "Countries fight war till they go broke, then they sue for peace".

[EFerrari]

33. But aren't we already broke?

(Gallows humor, sorry!)

[happyslug]

34. But Social Security is Solvent, and expected to remain so

More money has been collected in Social Security Taxes then has ever been paid out. This is expected to continue till 2012 or so (at which point Social Security pays out as much as it takes in). Come about 2020 or 2030 Social Security has to go to Congress and ask Congress to return all the money loaned from Social Security since Reagan to continue ot break even till the baby boomer's are gone. At that point Social Security again breaks even,

Now in a worse case scenario, Social Security can only pay 85% of all claimants after 2040 or so (i.e. you would be getting 85% of what you should be getting). The GOP pushed this hard concept hard under Bush but the GOP alternative in the worse case scenario was even worse (Thus the GOP compared Social Security worse case scenario with private plan best case scenario to make Social Security look as bad as possible). Yes, it was like comparing the need to buy an umbrella on a sunny day (The private plan) to the need to buy one on a rainy day (Social Security). You do NOT need an umbrella on a sunny day, thus it is a waste of money but you may find it cost effective to buy one on a rainy day. Yes, two different economic assumptions, with Social Security being treated as if it would face the worse and the private plan the best economic future.

Just pointing out Social Security is the most solvent part of the Federal Budget, and least likely to go broke UNLESS Congress makes it go broke. The later is unlikely for FDR made sure of that when he made almost all Americans eligible for Social Security. FDR knew that if most people did NOT get a Government Benefit it would NEVER be properly financed (Just look at welfare for example), but if most people DO get a benefit it will be properly finance do to political fears of Politicians wanted to get re-elected (Thus Social Security is called the Third Rail of Politics, touch it and you die as a politician).

[tuckessee]

29. As long as the American chump taxpayers can afford it he'll keep receiving & spending it. n/t

[beyond cynical]

30. ...and aid until 2048.

[babydollhead]

35. how about the year 2525

In the year twentyfive
twentyfive if man is still alive

If woman can survive they may find.
In the year thirtyfive thirtyfive
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth tell no lies

Ev'rything you think do and say is in the pill you took today.
In the year fortyfive fortyfive
You ain't gonna need your teeth won't need your eyes

You won't find a thing to chew
nobody's gonna look at you.
In the year fiftyfive fiftyfive your arms are hangin' limp at you side

Your legs got nothin' to do
some machines doin' that for you.
In the year sixtyfive sixtyfive
Ain't gonna need no husband won't need no wife

You'll pick your son
pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long glass tube.
In the year seventyfiveten
If God's a-coming he oughta make it by then

Maybe he'll look around himself and say:
Guess it's time for the judgement day.
In the year eightyfiveten God is gonna shake his mighty head

He'll either say I'm pleased where man has been
Or tear it down and start again.
In the year ninetyfive ninetyfive
I'm kind a wond'rin' if man is gonna be alive

He's taken everything this old earth can give
And he ain't put back nothin'.
Now it's been tenthousand years
man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew - now man's reign is through.
But through eternal night the twinkling of starlight
So very far away - maybe it's only yesterday.
In the year twentyfive twentyfive if man is still alive
In the year thirtyfive thirtyfive . . .