Afghanistan to Agree to 10,000 U.S. Troops in Country Past 2014

The newly inaugurated president of Afghanistan,
Ashraf Ghani, is
expected to sign a security deal tomorrow that will allow
10,000 U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan after the international
operation officially finishes at the end of the year.

Nevertheless, Ghani is
also interested in restarting negotiations with the Taliban,
which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing near the Kabul
airport, and other militant groups in the country. “Fighting is not
the solution to the political differences,”the new president said
at his inauguration. “We proved that political differences can be
solved through political negotiations. Therefore I call upon the
opponents of the government – especially the Taliban and
Hezb-e-Islami to join political talks.”

Ghani’s electoral rival, Abdullhah Abdullah, who
also supported extending the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, was
also sworn in as a “chief executive,” part of a power-sharing deal
after the disputed election.

Former President Hamid Karzai, who left office today, and

refused to sign a security deal with the U.S. as a lame duck,

used his farewell speech last week to lambast the U.S.,
claiming “America did not want peace for Afghanistan, because it
had its own agendas and goals here,” mainly the “personal interest
of the foreign policies of others.”