US and Afghanistan hail ‘revitalized’ partnership

CAMP DAVID, USA – The United States and Afghanistan sought to turn the page on years of distrust Monday, March 23, hailing “revitalized” ties as they seek to forge a path towards a more secure future.

Hailing a day of “productive talks,” top US diplomat John Kerry said nations shared “a commitment to security and peace and a desire to promote prosperity and social progress.” 

Earlier, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had warmly thanked US troops for more than a decade of sacrifice since the 2001 overthrow of Taliban rule by a US-led invasion.

“We do not now ask what the United States can do for us. We want to say what Afghanistan will do for itself and for the world” said Ghani, on his first official trip to the United States as Afghan president, turning around a famous phrase of former US leader John F. Kennedy.

“And that means we are going to put our house in order,” he told soldiers and senior US officials at a Pentagon ceremony.

Afghanistan would always appreciate the contributions of the more than 850,000 troops who have deployed to the country since the attacks of September 11, 2001, Ghani vowed.

From the Pentagon, the talks moved to the woodland presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, where Kerry announced he would visit Kabul again later this year to renew the talks.

In a series of meetings also joined by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Washington agreed to ask Congress to fund the level of Afghan security forces at an “end strength” of 352,000.

And in a separate initiative, the US will commit up to $800 million to a new development partnership to promote sustainable and transparent economic reform, Kerry said.

‘Flexibility’ on US troop levels

President Barack Obama will host Ghani at the White House on Tuesday, March 24, and is expected to address calls to slow down the pace of a scheduled withdrawal of the 10,000-strong US force left in Afghanistan, officials said.

Ghani, who has asked for some flexibility on the numbers, refused to be drawn when asked how many US troops he would like to see remain in his country next year.

“The question of numbers is a decision for the president of the United States, and that decision will be made by Obama,” he told reporters at the joint press conference in Camp David.

Ghani acknowledged that, amid a Taliban resurgency, “the security environment…. is difficult. But our armed forces, an all-volunteer force, are ready to do their patriotic duty.”

Obama was “actively considering” Ghani’s request for flexibility, Kerry said, while Defense Secretary Ash Carter stressed that after ending its combat mission in 2014, the US plan was still to move “a very small” mission for training purposes and to support the Afghan security forces.

Carter also praised Ghani’s remarks at the Pentagon which “underscored the extent to which the United States now has a revitalized partnership with Afghanistan’s new unity government.”

The new Afghan leader also vowed that his country would not “be a burden” to the international community and would put its “house in order.”

For much of the past years since the US-led invasion ousted the Islamic militant Taliban from power in Kabul in 2001, Washington has been fighting a parallel battle with former mercurial president Hamid Karzai.

There was relief when Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah took office in late 2014, in a power-sharing deal negotiated by Kerry in a 48-hour mission to Kabul, widely credited with preventing the bitter elections flaring into open conflict.

US officials say Ghani appears willing to carry out security and economic reforms that will put Afghanistan on a path to eventual self-reliance, one that does not require endless US funding and large-scale troop deployments.

That sits well with Obama, who has promised to pull out troops from Afghanistan by 2017, when he leaves office.

On Tuesday, before his meeting with Obama, Ghani will head to Arlington National Cemetery, where many of the troops killed in Afghanistan are buried. – Jo Biddle, AFP / Rappler.com