Great Decisions 2012 Spring Update: Exit from Afghanistan and Iraq

Great Decisions Updates are issued seasonally and provide groups with the latest news and analysis on topics. The Spring 2012 Update is current as of May, 2012. Download the Spring 2012 Update as a PDF here.

by Leslie Huang, assistant editor 

 

AFGHANISTAN. On February 21, violence erupted in Afghanistan when it became known that several copies of the Quran had been accidentally burned at Bagram Air Force Base by NATO personnel. Violent anti-American protests erupted near the base. In the days following the burning, President Obama and NATO leaders apologized profusely. Nonetheless, the protests spread across the country, encouraged by the Taliban. During the violence, two U.S. service members were shot in Nangarhar Province and two others were shot in the Interior Ministry in Kabul. In each instance, the perpetrator was apparently a member of the Afghan military. Additionally, over 30 Afghans were killed in the violence. The U.S. and Afghanistan are each carrying out separate inquiries into the Quran burning, and are also conducting a joint inquiry.

On March 11, a U.S. Army sergeant killed 16 civilians near Kandahar. This tragedy pushed already-fragile U.S.-Afghan relations to their lowest point. The suspect, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, was on his fourth tour of Afghanistan, and reportedly walked to a village near his base to begin his rampage. Awaiting trial on 17 counts of murder (despite the official death toll of 16) and additional counts of attempted murder, Bales is in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

On March 9, the U.S. and Afghanistan negotiated an agreement on the operation of detention facilities. Over a six-month transition period, the U.S. will transfer full control of detention facilities to Afghan authorities. However, the U.S. will continue to hold non-Afghan prisoners and will retain the power to veto the release of prisoners.

On April 8, negotiators reached an agreement regarding the controversial night raids. According to the agreement, Afghan forces will take the lead on night raids and can request the involvement of U.S. forces. Additionally, an Afghan court must issue a warrant before each raid (or after, if the raid involves intelligence that must be acted upon immediately).

With those two major points of contention resolved, on April 22, the U.S. and Afghanistan finished drafting a strategic partnership agreement after over a year of negotiations. As part of the agreement, the U.S. will continue to support Afghanistan through 2024. Many details, such as those regarding the continued U.S. military presence or the U.S.’s financial commitment, are not specified, and the full text of the agreement has not been released. President Obama made a surprise visit to Kabul on May 1 to sign the agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

IRAQ. On February 7, a parliamentary deadlock ended when the Sunni members of Iraq’s cabinet agreed to rejoin the government. The Iraqiya party, to which most Sunni members of parliament belong, had instated a boycott in response to the Shi‘i-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s attempt to fire the deputy prime minister, Saleh al-Mutlaq, and the ongoing case of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi.

Hashimi, a Sunni, had fled to Kurdistan after Maliki issued a warrant for his arrest in December of last year, on charges relating to death squads. Now in Istanbul, Hashimi was charged on April 30 with six counts of murder. The new charges have strained relations between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish minority.

In February, the U.S. State Department prepared to reduce drastically the staff at the embassy in Baghdad. Consisting of nearly 16,000 people—approximately 2,000 of which were diplomats, and the majority of the rest contractors—the staff may be cut by as much as half.