America's future in Afghanistan will be decided this week – not in a boardroom or on the battlefield – but in a rare assembly of Afghan tribal elders, some practically barefoot, others too illiterate to read the agreement they'll be voting on.
It's called the BSA – short for Bilateral Security Agreement – and it will cover the military relationship between the United States and Afghanistan for the next 10 years.
The State Department, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the coalition of international armed forces led by the U.S. have agreed to a draft version, but in a surprise move, Karzai said he wouldn't sign it unless it "was approved by the Afghan people."
So he called a traditional "loya jirga," or meeting of tribal elders, to come to Kabul to debate and vote on it. That meeting will happen sometime between Nov 19-25 and last for a few days.
Afghan parliamentarians got a preview at what the document contains when they were briefed over the weekend by two officials who were privy to the full text.
The draft hasn't been released, but we got a sneak preview over the weekend:
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
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