Colonel James McKee, a graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Law, spoke Wednesday as part of the Everett Post Conflict Reconstruction Speaker Series, which is in its fifth year.

McKee is a judge advocate for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, which means he provides advice to other military personnel. On Tuesday, he talked about the Bilateral Security Agreement, which calls for the United States to advise, assist and train security forces of Afghanistan.

“We’re going to train and equip the Afghanistan army until it can carry out its own security,” McKee said.

A Loya Jirga, or grand council, that was convened by Afghani President Mohammed Karzai endorsed a draft of the BSA, but Karzai has refused to sign the agreement, according to the U.S. Department of State’s website.

McKee, who served in four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that behind the scenes it can often appear that Karzai is on board with something, but then he’ll back out.

“Everyone believes (the BSA) will get signed eventually, just not with Karzai in power,” he said.

McKee addressed the details of the agreement and roadblocks left in getting it signed during his speech. His presentation was focused around two main ideas related to the BSA: relationships and messaging.

McKee first discussed the details of the Strategic Partnership Agreement, which he called the foundation for the BSA. He said the document from the agreement aimed to have the United States share democratic values with Afghanistan, advise them on long-term security and strengthen Afghani institutions and governance.

The Strategic Partnership Agreement, along with the BSA, ultimately aims to completely remove U.S. forces from Afghanistan while maintaining a stable environment in the country and surrounding regions.

McKee said some citizens say the United States should remove all troops immediately, but others believe a lot of progress has been made and U.S. forces should stay to finish the job.

But Mckee added that ending the war isn’t quite that easy.

“The thing is that war is very violent,” McKee said. “It’s the last thing you want to see and there’s nothing responsible about it. I don’t see how you just walk away from war.”

In addition, a few specific points of contention need to be addressed between the U.S. and Afghanistan before the BSA is signed, McKee said. Some of those issues include deciding which country has jurisdiction over U.S. troops and prohibiting U.S. forces from searching Afghani homes.

The current debate on what will become of the BSA and how soon it may get signed is an issue with many angles, something that influenced Corri Zoli, a research professor in the College of Law’s Institute of National Security and Counterterrorism, to attend the presentation.

Zoli said she wanted to understand the BSA better, as well as the security and safety problems Afghanistan is facing. In addition, she said being able to get someone with McKee’s experience is uncommon.

“I think it’s very rare we get a judge’s perspective on this problem,” Zoli said. “Usually we get media or maybe soldiers, and I think he gave a good idea of how complex it is.”

McKee said regardless of what ends up happening with the BSA, it’s important for U.S. troops to be mindful of where they are.

Said McKee: “We’re going to respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty and law, but we need to be able to do what we need to do for our operations.”

Published on February 20, 2014 at 12:39 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27