Alternative Approach to Karzai and BSA

Stephen Hadley, a national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, proposes an alternative approach to President Karzai's non-signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). Hadley believes that the Obama administration should stop the "sign now" offensive and wait out the three months until the Afghan election takes place. He believes the U.S. military and their many allies can actually conduct parallel planning for either a complete withdrawal and retrograde before December 2014 and for the keeping of 8,000 to 12,000 troops after December 2014. In the interim he suggests that Obama make a series of policy speeches outlining the intent of the U.S. to remain in Afghanistan - restoring the Afghan public's confidence in the future and reassuring the international community that it will continue aid and investments if the U.S. stays on. Read his article entitled "In Afghanistan, an alternate approach to a security pact", The Washington Post, January 14, 2014.