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Subscribe to RSSNBC's Jim Miklaszewski joins Lester Holt to discuss the latest on Afghan President Hamid Karzai order that U.S. forces be removed from Wardak province over allegations of torture and disappearances.
Ahmad Jamshid / AP, file
Afghan President Hamid Karzai addesses military officers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has ordered that all U.S. special forces must leave Wardak province, just west of Kabul, within two weeks — citing allegations of disappearances and torture.
In a statement Sunday, a spokesman for Karzai said, "after a thorough discussion, it became clear that armed individuals named as U.S. special force stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people."
Karzai's office cited a "recent example" in which nine people allegedly "disappeared" and a separate incident where a student was taken from his home in the middle of the night and whose tortured body was found two days later under a bridge with his throat cut.
U.S. defense officials strongly deny that military personnel condoned, or were involved in, any kidnappings, torture or murders of Afghan civilians or suspects.
In addition to demanding the U.S. pull out in two weeks, Karzai also demanded the immediate cessation of all international special forces operations in Wardak.
Military officials told NBC News that Karzai's order came as a total surprise. The province is one of the hottest combat zones in Afghanistan and is a strategically important area because it is seen as the gateway the Taliban uses to carry out attacks in Kabul, the war-torn nation's capital.
In response, International Security Assistance Force, which coordinates the multinational coalition in Afghanistan, said "the U.S. Forces Afghanistan is aware of the reporting of presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi's comments today. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them."
The ISAF declined to comment further until they've "had a chance to speak with" senior officials in the Afghan government.
In their statement, the Afghan government noted that "Americans reject having conducted any such operation," but also noted "that such actions have caused local public resentment and hatred."
President Barack Obama announced during his State of the Union address earlier this month that 34,000 American troops -- about half of the total U.S. force in Afghanistan -- will leave the country by the end of this year.
NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube contributed to this report
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Bring home our troops and our money!
That's how I feel - let's get the heck outta there ASAP! Expel away!
Get out NOW! We have our own problems to solve here at home.
Well this is starting to stink like maybe another CUBA. If Obuma had any sense he would pull every last American soldier out of tha God forsaken hell hole and let them deal with the tallyban themselves. We have shed enough american blood there in that pigstye of a country. Then when the tallyban takes over the country and executes Karzie we should just start dropping bombs and wipe out the miserable place and half of the tallyban. That area has been a slauter house since way before Christ walked the face of the earth. The Russians had enough sense to pull out of there years ago. And if we stopped wasting millions of dollars there trying to protect those ungratefull people maybe we could then balance or budget here in this country.
Karzai is just spending time pandering to multiple factions in the country while he amasses his fortune so he can leave before the US forces leave. I expect he will spend the rest of his life living in Paris or Dubai.
Let's leave that province and when we leave, just keep going until all our forces are home.
why arent you concerned about your own leaders amassing fortunes for themselves? look at bush and cheney?
Karzai is Pastun whose motto is "Women are for bearing children and little boys are for sexual pleasure".
Why are the American forces protecting the poppy fields that fund the Taliban?
Get out of that stone-age country now!
there's an old ARAB saying "Women for DUTY, boys for PLEASURE and a MELON for DELIGHT"
Crazy is a crazy speaks, eh?
Let's try spending America's money on America for a change. Trying to force democracy on cultures with medieval warrior mentalities is a waste of time.
Ya, but I wouldn't lend the term "warrior" to their life choices.
How 'bout "feudal"?
how about NEANDERTHAL? Remember - afghanistan has never been "successfully" invaded in recorded history
Bad news fork dude... we are not invading or fighting AFG.
we dont have a democracy here! when will you people wake up? its not about democracy there, they have something the multinational corporations want and are using our tax dollars to try and take. you guys havent figured that out yet.
you REALLY don't understand DO YOU? As far as THEY are concerned WE ARE INVADERS. Same as the RUSSIANS were.
Yes, it doesn't make sense - but when dealing with a 4th world country, WHAT DOES?
Thank God-let's get the hell out of there.
Just watch, these killings, disappearances and tortures will continue after we have left and then he will beg us to come back and we can give him the finger,
All the more reason to speed up the withdrawal and get the hell out of there and let Karzai and his ghoonies enjoy being beheaded.
karzia and his goonies (as you say) are no worse than ours, why arent you concerned with our lying corrupt goverment?
What? You mean they don't love the U.S.?? Say it isn't so. Obamastalin, do something... or are you???
Never believe these people, lying and cheating is their second nature.... look at our president...
STFU - you merely demonstrate your reichwingednuttinness
Oh no, did my comment upset the little leftist lemming? Got all that left anything goes but hate and contempt for anything you don't want to hear thing going on. I understand. Little children get mad when you hand them their soy treat instead of a cookie. And they often get so mad in their tantrums they say bad things too. Really, its ok, one day you may work and pay taxes, and you will find out hate is not such a good thing after all.... but maybe not the way things are going.
you fall right into thier hands with the partisan bickering, while they are robbing us blind. your comments are beyond emptyheaded. be quiet and try to learn something because you add nothing to discussion.
nope -- I'm in favor of NEVER HAVING BEEN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. it's NOT partisan - it's the result of having the DoD sell a bill of goods on continued "participation". Haul out everything that can be moved. What can't be moved, destroy in place. GET OUT NOW - IF we need further "participation", DRONES and CARPET BOMBING will work quite well!
Oh, and GO - I would venture to guess that I PAY more taxes than YOU (unless you are over 200k, and no, it's not just a "boast" and I concede to your superior "income")
Nope fork dude, I can pretty much promise you that you do not pay more tax than I. Of course, I can pretty much tell by your comments and need to lie and be overly opinionated without sarcasm or cognitive reasoning for fun, that you are not earning anywhere near 200k a year, if anything at all. I really very much believe you spend an awful lot of time in the parents basement all alone.
The best way (sometimes only) to defend yourself from a sociopath is to get away.
out out out
So the US should get the FU CK out of AFGHANISTAN and let them fight it out among themselves. 2 TRILLION pounded onto a worthless HOLE (karzai will last 3 months without US "support" and we SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE)
that is the point that most of these commenters are missing, we should have never been there in the first place. instead with some stupid act of patriotism they blame the victims of our military aggression. we have killed thousands of innocent people, doesnt that matter?
depends - after the major FU CK-UP when the afghans let Bin Fish-bait escape, we should have gotten OUT them (there was ZERO need to remain unless the taliban allowed a bin Crab-bait return) Boots on the ground have been more than a "little" mistake. I posted elsewhere that there has NEVER been a successful invasion of Afghanistan in RECORDED HISTORY (and to THEM, WE APPEAR AS INVADERS)
Could the Taliban be responsible for the disappearances/tortures? Oh. No, of course not. They are all Karzai's buds. The bad guys know how to play people so effectively. Mysterious disappearances, attacks on "weddings", killing "innocent civilians". All finely orchestrated to draw the attack and then act like the poor innocent victim.
I thought only the Bush administration tortured, and the Obama administration specialized in drone attacks on friendly soil against women and children.
The US military has been turned into a mercenary army... Protecting warlords or protecting corporations like Halliburton....
thank you JFD28 for telling it like it is! We have become that which we dispised, the bad guy. bombing ,torturing, terrorizing people halfway around the world because they have what the multinational corporations want. the we call them what we "terrorist".sick!
Final recommendation - tell the decent Affies and Pakies if they can't keep their large fraction of population that are either terrorists or wannabes hellbent on destroying the western world under control, we will become the best friends of India's they could ever want and help them build their military up to the point we and the Indians can fly in on them with drones and any other aircraft from India's bases in a heartbeat if they ever try to do what they did from 1990-9/11/2001 again. If India needs help building military bases let's help them.
This country is our enemy. Let's stop giving money to our enemies when Americans need it themselves.
Our enemy, but Obama's "friend"......
there is the stupidity! our biggest problem is people like you that put stumbling blocks instead of coming together as americans so we can get out of this mess. your comment adds nothing!
Well just get the hell out and forget the 90 billion dollars we are going to use to rebuild the country as we can use that here in the good old USA. F those rag heads
Screw this nutcracker!!! what are we still doing there...2014 my rattrap!!!! we need to leave now and pass the bill to them for terminating the contract soon!!! After all the lives we have given for this crackerjack to offend the memory of our loved ones is the last thing our people needs to hear. This guy needs us a we need an iron on our butts. This nut case is just trying to assure his survival after our departure by getting cozzy with the taliban that is coming to make his life of corruption miserable...hasta la vista Karsitrant!!! oh...next time you visit the white house bring toilet paper moron!!!
Is this part of the "arab spring" Obama kept talking about?? ....or is "spring" just another name for Iran having drones and nukes?? ....maybe the "arab spring" is the billions of dollars in weapons and aid that Obama sent to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt?? ......what is this "arab spring"?
again HopeisGone you add nothing but partisanship to this discussion when it is going to take americans coming together to get us out of this mess. divided we fall! be quiet because you are part of the problem.All those rotten corrupt bastards lied us into these wars democrats and republicans and need to be voted out if not prosecuted! they break laws they vote to change the law so they cant be held accountable. also lobbying is legalized bribery. they legalized bribery for themselves, democrats and republicans!
A perfect time to get out of an expensive, hopeless situation.
We should never have gone into Afghanistan in the first place. We should just go after Al Qaida camps.
We are supporting Al Qaida in Syria by arming them. I thought they were now are allies.
the enemy of our friend is our enemy, too
I'd like to know what we've actually gotten for this 10 year money pit known as Afghanistan? Bring all troops home now and let Karzai and his drug lord family deal with the Taliban without our help.
we have gotten nothing but the bill, while some have gotten very rich. which should be what we are discussing.
We have lost thousands of American lives and spent trillions of dollars--we tell Karazi what to do, not the other way around. We have wasted our lives and time in that worthless country.
some have gotten very rich though
Another thing,our generals agree with him in everything he says to "avoid" conflict and misunderstanding!!! screw this nut cracker, did they ran out of prozac?
The sad truth is they are on to much prozac.
Get out NOW with are money and equipment and let them live in their houses of @!$%# and mud and send all the musie Dr. back free of charge.
For Gods sake this must end!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who have we become? We are acting with absolutely no moral fiber and no code of honor. Nations end up in ruins for acting like this just go Ask NAZI Germany.
so you equate the US to the Nazis, eh? The Nazi response would be to turn Afghanistan into glassy wasteland.
Killing innocent people and torturing them is exactly what the NAZIS did. When you wake you will feel a fear you have never felt before. This is a war about good and evil.
they cant take the truth thrill22 - we are no better than the nazis