In December 2011, President Barack Obama made the official statement that the U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan would be pulled from their duties there and sent home. Families across the country couldn't be more happier about this news. The longest war in American history was now ending. Or so I thought.
Today, NATO members met to finalize the two year plan to have all foreign soldiers removed from Afghanistan by 2014. But why are they calling for a two-year plan instead of ending it now?
Let's think about this logically. In any strategic situation, if a major part of the team just up and leaves, wouldn't that cause someone else to take up the slack from that one part, on top of their own? What if the new person in charge can no longer rely on that support but has to fend for himself/herself? What problems will arise? This appears to be similar to how the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, .
NATO defense ministers met today to discuss the suggested pay that will be provided to the Afghan security forces once the 130,000 remaining foreign soldiers have left. A $4 billion a year fund was what U.S. officials roughly estimated, since the U.S. is already in charge of the majority of the funding for training, running, and equipping Afghan. On the other hand, President Karzai estimates $2 billion as a yearly fund from the U.S. and would like the amount to be more specific. The alliance between to these two countries has become stronger within these past 11 years, but Afghanistan is still weary of this agreement without a written guarantee.
"They are providing us money, there is no doubt about that. But they say they will not mention the amount in the agreement. We say: Give us less, but mention it in the agreement. Give us less, but write it down," President Karzai during his speech addressing these issues.
Will two-year wait be just enough time to put this plan into motion? The Sydney Morning Herald of Sydney, Australia thinks that the reasoning behind the decision to wait until 2014 is strictly political and in favor of future electoral candidates of the countries involved. I'm more interested in the fact that Australia isn't hiding the fact that they plan on pulling all of its troops out of Afghanistan a year earlier then the deadline. The Australian soldiers have just as much influence on the Afghan army as the U.S. does. Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard just believes that Afghanistan can hold its own a little sooner than 2014.
What do you think of NATO and Afghanistan's 2014 deadline? Do you think this plan will be effective in helping Afghanistan Development? Do you think Afghanistan's can hold its now?
Read more information on the summit being held to discuss the two-year plan, here.
Keisha Douglas is an independent filmmaker who specializes in music videos. When she is not filming, she spends much of her time blogging and freelance writing. She is the voice behind Mito Vox, an entertainment & etc. blog. To learn more about her freelance services visit her website. View all her Film Annex posts on her WebTv Channel.
