Progressive Nation

May 23rd, 2005

Independent Afghanistan

Just how independent it is was made clear yesterday when Hamid Karzai carefully asked for the transfer of prisoners and command of soldiers in Afghanistan to his government, in reaction to the torture and killing of Afghan detainees by US troops in Bagram. He didn’t ask for US troops to leave. He didn’t ask for reparations for the thousands killed under US occupation. He didn’t even ask for an apology. What he did ask was for a humiliatingly minor US gesture - a shred of independence for his government.

Bush ruled it out immediately.

The idea that a “sovereign” government, a “model and inspiration” for Iraq’s future, might have control of prisoners from its own nation, on its own territory, is unacceptable. That it should take control away from a torturous army that disregards national and international law, and run its own military affairs is also out of the question.

Karzai also learned that the status of the 18,300 occupying troops in Afghanistan is not supposed to be the issue. The issue, one gathers from media focus, is Karzai’s failure to make the drug trade disappear.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 23rd, 2005 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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