Hamid Karzai is only nominally president of Afghanistan and has been considered as Bush's puppet. Last week Karzai was outraged (or at least feigned outrage) over the US desecration of the Koran and also firmly called for US troops to come under the authority of Afghanistan, especially with regard to the Afghan prisoners. However, not only has Bush said no to this, he and Karzai have now signed a long term arrangement for US troops to remain in Afghanistan.

There are approximately 20,000 troops in Afghanistan at a cost of $1 billion per month.

Karzai, on his first visit to Washington after winning his country's landmark presidential elections last October, said the "memorandum of understanding" he signed with Bush was for "long-term partnership."

It "will make sure that Afghanistan continues to receive reconstruction assistance, training from the US for its military and the police, and which will enable Afghanistan to stand on its own feet eventually and be a good, active member of the region, contributing to peace and stability in the region," he added.

What is this if not a tradeoff. US uses Afghanistan (and can also push for the Caspian pipeline oil project that goes through Afghanistan) while giving money to Afghanistan for reconstruction.Meanwhile, the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated.

New York, May 24, 2005) -- Afghanistan's security situation has deteriorated significantly in recent weeks, with a spate of political killings, violent protests, and attacks on humanitarian workers, Human Rights Watch said today. The instability comes as President Hamid Karzai visits the United States this week. The recent violence includes the assassination of a parliamentary candidate in Ghazni two weeks ago, the murder of three female aid workers, the kidnapping of an aid worker in Kabul, and clashes between armed factions in the northern province of Maimana.