The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally," an action designed to facilitate close defense cooperation after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014 and as a political statement of support for Afghanistan's long-term stability.


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who arrived in Kabul on an unannounced visit to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, announced the alliance to diplomats at the U.S. Embassy.


The designation allows for streamlined defense cooperation, including expedited purchasing ability of American equipment and easier export control regulations. Afghanistan's military, which is heavily dependent on American and foreign assistance, already enjoys many of these benefits. The non-NATO ally status guarantees it will continue to do so.


"I am going to be announcing formally with President Karzai in just a little bit that President Obama has officially designated Afghanistan as what's called a major non-NATO ally of the United States," Clinton said.


State Department sources say that this is the first time the Obama administration has bestowed that label on any country. The last one was Pakistan in 2004.


Clinton and Karzai were also expected to discuss civilian ties and stalled Afghan reconciliation efforts.


From Kabul, Clinton is heading later Saturday to Japan for an international conference on Afghan civilian assistance. Donors are expected to pledge around $4 billion a year in long-term civilian support.


On Saturday, the U.S. is expected to announce that American dollars will continue to flow into Afghanistan at the same levels even as U.S. troops pull out.


Clinton arrived in Kabul from Paris, where she attended a 100-nation conference on Syria.

credits AP
Link---> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-5746....

Quote:

On Saturday, the U.S. is expected to announce that American dollars will continue to flow into Afghanistan at the same levels even as U.S. troops pull out.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh... what?

Quote:

The last one was Pakistan in 2004.

That's working out so well lately...

Sounds like we will get another decade of "perpetual war." Any troops brought home will be replaced with private para-military contractors who will fight in the shadows, outside of the media glare. Casualties will not be publicized.

A mountainous land claim.

Afghanistan borders China, who are paying rapt attention to US encirclement of the Middle Kingdom.

Quote:

The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally,".......On Saturday, the U.S. is expected to announce that American dollars will continue to flow into Afghanistan at the same levels even as U.S. troops pull out.

Get out the US (Uncle Sucker) check book.

We've got to change the way we look at these so-called "allies."

With a $17 Trillion national debt and $1 Trillion annual deficit, no nation that takes money from the US should be considered an "ally".

IMHO

This is all about soaking up USD liquidity. The USD would hyperinflate overnight if there weren't "allies" soaking it all up.

Hut tax enforcement on a global scale. Pay your tribute or you'll be invaded and occupied until a new puppet administration is installed that will pay up.

...and Obama presses the accelerator further into the floorboards...

Quote:

The USD would hyperinflate overnight if there weren't "allies" soaking it all up.

I see.

The more they take from us, the better "friends" they are.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Quote:

The designation allows for streamlined defense cooperation, including expedited purchasing ability of American equipment and easier export control regulations.

I wonder what the likelihood is that these weapons, at some point in the future, will be used AGAINST us.

Umm, Grody you have it arse about.

The US is taking from these "allies", not the others way round. That is the premise of "hut tax". It is a means of extracting wealth from the colonies "allies".

Quote:

The US is taking from these "allies"

Oh really.

How much is Afghanistan paying America?

Quote:

I wonder what the likelihood is that these weapons, at some point in the future, will be used AGAINST us.

I'm quite sure they already have been.

Grody,
Afghanistan probably funds the CIA. Interesting that the UN estimates that 10% of opium revenue falls the Taliban's way, and 70% of revenue is unaccounted for. Considering that Afghanistan allegedly supplies 90% of world production, that's a bunch of capital flowing somewhere.

I wonder how much of the production goes to Big Pharma.

Yea, I've read that but if it is true, it's a disgrace.

They take our money AND sell us drugs.

Some "friends"!

Quote:

Looking back at bare facts of the recent Afghan history, what do we see? Afghanistan became a hub for opium production during the Soviet military presence there, and in 1995, Charles Cogan, the former CIA Director of clandestine Afghan operation, admitted that while assisting the mujahedeen, the US authorities closed their eyes on the fact that their assistance, among other things was used for increasing opium production, and drug sales which were used for acquiring weapons.................

Then came the Taliban. For some time, drug production was fluctuating at approximately the same level as during the pre-Taliban time (that is, Afghanistan remained the main area of opium-related drug production, by far exceeding Myanmar). Then in 2000, the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a fatwa declaring growing poppies un-Islamic. This resulted in a drastic reduction of poppy cultivation and opium production, with the year 2001 being the only year when Afghanistan was almost free of this evil. In fact, in the whole history of mankind, this has been the most successful (if not the only successful) attempt to eradicate drug production in a given country.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_13/780022....

Well Grody, they're not your allies, they're allies of the political elite.

I am still trying to figure out WHY the British Empire and USA have covertly usurped global opiate production as a means to fund whatever. It's not even a lot of money. It still does not make any sense to me.

Soma.