Troops to Stay in Afghanistan, but Demands for War Crime Immunity Denied

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – SEPTEMBER 12: US Secretary of State John Kerry gestures as he listens to a translation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking next to him during a press conference at the Hotel Intercontinental on September 12, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. The leaders met to discuss chemical weapons in Syria in working towards assisting a U.N. Security Council resolution. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)

By JG Vibes | October 16, 2013 | 3:30am EST

WASHINGTON (INTELLIHUB) —  This week there have been a large number of stories in the news about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite the fact that the mainstream media has reported on multiple different occasions that those wars have come to an end.
This weekend US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Afghanistan to hold a formal discussion with the regions puppet dictator, President Hamid Karzai.  The main focus of the discussion was to come to an agreement about leaving 10,000 American troops in the country to fighting.
However, the discussion came to an abrubt end when John Kerry suggested that American troops should have immunity from war crimes.
It is beyond the scope of the Afghan president and his government to decide whether to grant US military personnel immunity, Karzai told Kerry, adding that this “issue of jurisdiction” would be referred to the country’s loya Jirga, an assembly of elders, leaders and other influential people.
“We need to say that if the issue of jurisdiction cannot be resolved, then unfortunately there cannot be a bilateral security agreement,” Kerry told reporters at a Kabul news conference, stressing, however, that an agreement was otherwise essentially in place. _[1]
“I don’t believe these occupiers should be protected from prosecution for war crimes,” Suraia Sahar of Afghans United for Justice told Common Dreams. “Immunity is just another extension of occupation.”_[2]
“This has been brewing for a while,” Kevin Martin, executive director of Peace Action, told Common Dreams. “This is what they were trying to do in Iraq, but the U.S. couldn’t get Iraq to agree. This is almost an exact replay.”
 ”These are not very good agreements,” Martincontinued. “The people of Okinawa are furious at rape and sexual assault by U.S. troops.”
“This is part of our country’s sickness and addiction to militarism,” he added. “There is no reason the people of Afghanistan should accept immunity.”
While the issue of immunity was denied, it was also decided that American troops will stay in Afghanistan after the date that they were originally supposed to come home.
Sources:
[1] Kerry fails to secure deal on US ‘troop immunity’ in Afghanistan -RT
[2] ‘Iraq Replay’: Kerry Demands Immunity for US Troops in Afghanistan – Common Dreams
http://intellihub.com/2013/10/16/john-kerry-demands-immunity-us-troops-afghanistan/