Zionist Kerry says next Afghan president will sign deal with US

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that he is confident the next president of Afghanistan will sign a bilateral security deal with Washington that would authorize an enduring US military presence in the country beyond 2014.

The deal could allow thousands of US troops to stay in Afghanistan for up to a decade after the end of this year. Nevertheless, despite mounting pressure from Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has so far refused to sign it.

“Whether it’s signed by him or not we obviously have serious reservations, but all six of the candidates for the presidency of Afghanistan have said that they will sign it,” Kerry told a group of reporters on Wednesday.

US National Intelligence Director James Clapper also indicated before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month that it would be better for Washington to wait until after Afghanistan’s presidential elections in April, hoping a new Afghan president might sign the deal.

Kerry’s remarks came one day after US President Barack Obama threatened Karzai in a phone call that the US would withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan if he did not agree to sign the pact.

The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama has ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for a full US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan if the deal is not signed.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported on Monday that the US is examining four options for a military presence in Afghanistan beyond this year and the Pentagon, the State Department, and the intelligence community have told the White House that a 10,000-troop option under which, US forces will stay in Kabul, Kandahar, Bagram, and Jalalabad is the best option.

The 10,000-troop option is especially important for the CIA which fears the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would affect its drone strikes in neighboring Pakistan.

The spy agency asserts that without an enduring military presence there, it would not be able to fly drones from its Afghan bases because drone operations are covert and need US military protection.