U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement
Open-knowledge reference entry
The U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SASPA), officially titled Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America, was an agreement between the former government of Afghanistan and the United States that provides the long-term framework for the relationship between Afghanistan and the United States after the drawdown of U.S. forces in the Afghanistan war. SASPA went into effect on 4 July 2012, as stated by U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who said on 8 July 2012, at the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan: "Like a number of countries represented here, the United States and Afghanistan signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement that went into effect four days ago." SASPA was broadened by the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that both countries were obliged to negotiate within one year, which resulted on 30 September 2014 in the "Security and defense cooperation agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America" (SADCA).
Events leading up to SASPA
In March and April 2012, the United States and Afghanistan reached two agreements as part of setting the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan after the end of Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
The first, signed on 9 March 2012, provided for the transfer of control of the Parwan Detention Facility next to Bagram Airfield from the United States to Afghanistan. According to Al Jazeera the agreement "will put an Afghan general in charge of Parwan [...] within days, [...] but will also give a six-month window to gradually transfer detainees to Afghan oversight. According to the document, the U.S. will continue to provide logistical support for 12 months and a joint U.S.–Afghan commission will decide on any detainee releases until a more permanent pact is adopted." The memorandum of understanding also shifted the responsibility for all U.S. detention facilities in the country to Afghanistan.
The second, signed on 8 April 2012, transferred control of special operations to Afghan forces. Part of the agreement was to give Afghan military units greater control of controversial night raid operations unpopular with locals and to bring the raids under Afghan judicial authority, while U.S. troops shifted to a supporting role. The document was signed by Afghan General Abdul Rahim Wardak and U.S. General John Allen. "Today we are one step closer to the establishment of the U.S.–Afghan strategic partnership.
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