Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that an assembly of tribal elders would make the final decision on whether to grant US troops legal immunity post-2014.
The Obama administration has insisted on legal immunity for the residual US troops in Afghanistan following the drawdown in 2014.
Asked in a press conference last week about immunity, Obama said “nowhere do we have any kind of security agreement with a country without immunity for our troops,” adding that “it will not be possible for us to have any kind of U.S. troop presence post-2014 without assurances that our men and women who are operating there are in some way subject to the jurisdiction of another country.”
“I can go to the Afghan people and argue for immunity for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a way that Afghan sovereignty will not be compromised, in a way that Afghan law will not be compromised,” Karzai said in last week’s press conference at the White House.
“The issue of immunity is under discussion (and) it is going to take eight to nine months before we reach agreement,” Karzai told a news conference in the capital, Kabul on Monday.
The Iraqi government’s refusal in 2011 to grant immunity to a residual US troop presence led to the Obama administration’s decision to pull out completely. If the tribal meeting, or loya jirga, decides against immunity, it could have similar results in US policy.
There should be no immunity for our troops, civilians or contractors. Look at the damage Blackwater did in Iraq. All of them were ex-military personnnel. Disgraceful. The contractors in iraq and Afghanistan think they are above the law, and have been involved in human trafficking, drugs, rapes and murder. No immunity! Bring our troops home and fire all contractors!
no immunity and they pull out? OH NO IMMUNITY.
If Americans know that they are immune and will not be prosecuted this will open the door to them to commit even more war crimes and atrocities: kill innocent women and children, urinate on corpses, torture and do other vile things…
Anyone else see a common theme? Immunity is demanded for US military just like American cops have immunity at home. Justice for thee but not for me.
"just like American cops have immunity at home" Luckily NOT absolute, buy far too lenient… Sine they are getting paid by US, there should be no immunity for them when they break the law………
Afghanistan….. It will be interesting to see what the jurga decides…. How much do you have to bribe Jurga members to impel them to vote to give immunity to foreigners when they kill their OWN children….. How much would you want…??? For the answer look at Pakistan where the politicians sell the LIVES of their citizens. women and CHILDREN to America for targets for their Israeli created death machines…… What a great country.. to sell the lives of their kids for dollars….
I'm willing to bet that those members of the jirga that might oppose what Karzai wants will either not be invited or have pressing business elsewhere…or…encounter mishaps on the way to the opera…
On the off-chance that the jirga actually denies immunity you can begin counting the days remaining in Karzai's term of office.
And, most likely, the days remaining in Karzai's life in Afghanistan, or maybe Karzai's life, period.
Granting immunity through legislative gymnastics and thereby a license to kill or open-season is a luxury we grant to ourselves while but for which we criticize others. The US is signatory to numerous conventions, treatys and laws governing the conduct of combatants and often refered to as the rules of war on land. Yet, we are in constant violation of a number of them: From using poison ammunition (DU), to dropping immense bombs proximate to dense population centers and the torture of prisoners.
To have the luxury of immunity makes a mockery of international law and invites the lack of decorum during wartime.
Would the US grant immunity here to occupiers ? think not…