Afghanistan Strategic Partnership with U.S.

Extracted 22APR2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/world/asia/us-and-afghanistan-reach-partner...

After months of negotiations, the United States and Afghanistan completed drafts of a strategic partnership agreement on Sunday that pledges American support for Afghanistan for 10 years after the withdrawal of combat troops at the end of 2014...

“The document finalized today provides a strong foundation for the security of Afghanistan, the region and the world, and is a document for the development of the region,” said Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the Afghan national security adviser, in a statement released by President Hamid Karzai’s office.

The United States ambassador, Ryan C. Crocker, speaking on Sunday to Afghanistan’s national security council, said the agreement meant that the United States was committed to helping Afghanistan as “a unified, democratic, stable and secure state,” the statement said...

The goals of the agreement for the Americans, the Taliban statement said, are: “First goal: securing routes to the Central Asian and Caspian oil fields. Second goal: prevention of a movement in favor of a true Islamic government. Third goal: bringing secularism and liberalism to Afghanistan. Fourth goal: establishing an army hostile to Islam that protects Western interests. Fifth goal: continuous threats to Islamic countries in the region and the prevention of political and military ties between them and Afghanistan.” The new agreement covers four main areas: social and economic development, institution building, regional cooperation and security.