With Afghan President Hamid Karzai unwilling to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States, the Obama administration fears that a total pullout of forces by the year-end would also cripple its drone operations against terror hideouts in Pakistan.
CIA’s drone bases in Afghanistan would have to be closed in the event of a total pullout without the conclusion of a pact under which the Pentagon has mooted retention of a residual force of 10,000 troops for another two years.
Reflecting the concerns over sustaining the drone offensive aimed at Pakistani terror sanctuaries, the White House is reported to have put together a team of intelligence, military and policy specialists to devise alternatives to mitigate the damage if a final security deal cannot be struck with Karzai.
Washington’s concern is that “the nearest alternative bases are too far away for drones to reach the mountainous territory in Pakistan where the remnants of Al Qaeda’s central command are hiding”, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing US administration, military and intelligence officials.
“Those bases would also be too distant to monitor and respond as quickly as American forces can today if there were a crisis in the region, such as missing nuclear material or weapons in Pakistan and India,” the report went on to say.
While much of the focus of the Afghan debate in the US has so far been about the size and duration of a residual force, officials are said to be admitting to new concerns now on how America’s long-term security interests could be affected in Pakistan.
The overall security plan is in limbo since Karzai has taken the stand that it would be for his successor, to be chosen in the April presidential election, to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement, which Washington wanted to be concluded months ago, setting December 31, 2013 as a final deadline of sorts.
The White House has not publicly reacted to the Pentagon plan to retain 10,000 troops for training and counter-terrorism operations, but President Obama is expected to focus on the Afghan strategy in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin M Hayden has said the President has made “no decisions” yet on Afghan troop levels, adding: “We will be weighing inputs from our military commanders, as well as the intelligence community, our diplomats and development experts, as we make decisions about our-post 2014 presence in Afghanistan.”