To Leave Afghanistan, Be Prepared to Stay

When former Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud suggested last week at a terrorism conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington that the U.S. should have used the death of Osama bin Laden in May as an excuse to immediately pull troops out of Afghanistan, he was met with enthusiastic applause. Not so in the Afghan capital of Kabul, where his assertion that, “Killing bin Laden would have been the perfect moment [to set] the timetable… for withdrawal of troops and goodbye and good luck,” caused a flurry of consternation. As it is, few Afghans believe that the 2014 withdrawal date, set by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and confirmed by U.S. President Barack Obama, gives the nascent national security forces enough time to confidently take over. Today's brazen attack by the Taliban on a high security area of Kabul that houses government offices and the US embassy only underscores the fragile security situation. Afghan lawmaker Ismael Qasimyar lashed out at Prince Turki on local TV station Tolo, calling him “irresponsible” and saying that a premature withdrawal of foreign troops risked sinking the country into further chaos.