President Hamid Karzai has made a mistake by refusing to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that will allow US forces to continue in combat duties in Afghanistan, even it they are strictly limited to actions against Al Qaida forces. The on-going Loya Jirga (council of elders) in Afghanistan has urged Karzai to accept the deal, but Karzai says that he will not bind his successor after he stands down from his term of office in 2014.

But by refusing to sign, Karzai simply adds to the confusion in Afghanistan since any hesitation on his behalf indicates that he is not sincere about the proposal.

Governments must operate at an institutional level, so Karzai should sign the BSA as President of Afghanistan and commit his country to the proposal. If his successor wants to renege on the deal, that is not for Karzai to anticipate.

The sensitivity over Karzai vacillating about the BSA is greatly increased because the BSA is so controversial. After 2014, the new Nato mandate specifically rules out any combat duties. Therefore, the BSA goes against the Nato spirit and also directly contradicts US President Barack Obama’s commitment to end the American combat role in Afghanistan, which will shock US public opinion. But Afghan public opinion is also disturbed by the Americans’ insistence that their troops would not be subject to Afghan law despite several shocking American excesses that left Afghan civilians dead.

A few weeks ago, Karzai had finally agreed in principle to the BSA. Now, the Loya Jirga has backed the proposal as well.

The Jirga accepts that the Americans are needed to back their forces outside the more passive future Nato role, despite legal problems and the very obvious operational issues that will make it hard to define a valid Al Qaida target in the heat of the moment. BSA is almost asking to be misused by eager US commanders, but the Afghans have still agreed to it. If there is going to be a BSA, then Karzai should agree to it and not deliberately cause uncertainty.