#AmanPost – Catching my eye… and yours?

by Christiane Amanpour

This is my share and tell – the stories you need today and why they matter. Take a read and respond on Facebook or Twitter. Lots of interesting articles about social media today:

You need code words to report the French elections? See how social media used fun code words to get around reporting restrictions: http://nyti.ms/Ia3CUZ

Social media helped organize and publicize uprisings from Iran ’09 to Arab Spring ’11. Now, Obama issues executive order to crack down on whoever uses social media to hunt down and attack protestors: http://wapo.st/I4kO30

CONFIRMATION of a deal for Afghanistan to get U.S. and Western support until 2024… 10-years after the 2014 pull out. http://nyti.ms/Ia4HMA Hamid Karzai first detailed this deal to me in my exclusive interview with him last week:

AMANPOUR:  Are you concerned that Afghanistan will descend into a kind of a civil war after the U.S. and other NATO forces leave?

KARZAI:  No.  I’m not concerned about that at all.  I’m rather very confident that once the international forces leave, that the Afghan forces will be able to defend the country as they demonstrated yesterday that the efficiency, the technical capability in terms of neutralizing terrorists, that is not my concern.  

The Afghan people will hold hands, will join hands to defend their country, to defeat terrorism.  But of course, we will need the continued assistance of the international community in form other than the presence of the - their troops on our soil.  And that is being considered.  We are right now talking with the United States on a strategic partnership between us.  

We are talking with Germany right now.  We have signed some with other partners.  So resources will be a matter that will be hoping and important for us.  The presence of troops will not - the removal of, the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan will not add to the dangers that we face.

AMANPOUR:  Let me ask you quickly about the strategic partnership you’re talking about.  How long do you think U.S. and other international forces in some way or another, that kind of partnership, need to stay in Afghanistan?  I’ve heard you talk about 10 years, 2024.

KARZAI:  Right now, we are negotiating for a partnership with the United States for a period from 2014 to 2024.  Once we have agreed on all the conditions of that partnership and of all the needs that we have and all the considerations that the United States has, the partnership, once signed, will go into effect for 10 years.