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KABUL – While many Americans have been led to believe the war in Afghanistan will soon be over, a draft of a key U.S.-Afghan security deal obtained by NBC News shows the United States is prepared to maintain military outposts in Afghanistan for many years to come, and pay to support hundreds of thousands of Afghan security forces.

The wide-ranging document, still unsigned by the United States and Afghanistan, has the potential to commit thousands of American troops to Afghanistan and spend billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.

The document outlines what appears to be the start of a new, open-ended military commitment in Afghanistan in the name of training and continuing to fight al-Qaeda. The war in Afghanistan doesn’t seem to be ending, but renewed under new, scaled-down U.S.-Afghan terms.

“The Parties acknowledge that continued U.S. military operations to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates may be appropriate and agree to continue their close cooperation and coordination toward that end,” the draft states.

The 25-page “Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement Between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” is a sweeping document, vague in places, highly specific in others, defining everything from the types of future missions U.S. troops would be allowed to conduct in Afghanistan, to the use of radios and the taxation of American soldiers and contractors.

The bilateral security agreement will be debated this week in Kabul by around 2,500 village elders, academics and officials in a traditional Loya Jirga. While the Loya Jirga is strictly consultative, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he won’t sign it without the Jirga’s approval.

The copy of the draft -- the full text is available here -- is dated July 25, 2013. As a working draft, it is particularly revealing because it shows the back and forth negotiations, as U.S. and Afghan officials added words and struck out paragraphs. The changes are marked by annotations still revealed in the text. The document is a work in progress. US officials say there have been more changes since July. The draft, however, does indicate the scope of this possible agreement with major implications for Washington, Kabul, U.S. troops and the continuation of America’s longest war.

A U.S.-Afghan agreement could mean a longer stay for American forces in Afghanistan, which requests that about 15,000 soldiers remain for at least a decade. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

Taken as a whole, the document describes a basic U.S.-Afghan exchange. Afghanistan would allow Washington to operate military bases to train Afghan forces and conduct counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda after the current mission ends in 2014. For that foothold in this volatile mountain region wedged between Pakistan and Iran, the United States would agree to sustain and equip Afghanistan's large security force, which the government in Kabul currently cannot afford. The deal, according to the text, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2015 and “shall remain in force until the end of 2024 and beyond.” It could be terminated by either Washington or Kabul with two years advance written notice.

Lord SillyNipples

Nov 21 2013, 10:46 PM

Sure beats the alternative though. It may not be our country but if we pull out, certain groups that just love us will go all out on the fragile security forces there and turn Afghanistan back into a terrorist safe-haven, like last time.

Seg-Kun Genesis

Nov 22 2013, 09:17 PM

And THIS is why i'm against the military. People will ROAP (Reach Out And Protest) against this. count on it.

Talancir D'Landior

Nov 22 2013, 11:30 PM

Seg-Kun Genesis

Nov 22 2013, 09:17 PM

And THIS is why i'm against the military. People will ROAP (Reach Out And Protest) against this. count on it.

being a former member of the us military, I take a strong exception to this statement as it stands. care to elaborate?

Seg-Kun Genesis

Nov 23 2013, 09:36 AM

Talancir D'Landior

Nov 22 2013, 11:30 PM

Seg-Kun Genesis

Nov 22 2013, 09:17 PM

And THIS is why i'm against the military. People will ROAP (Reach Out And Protest) against this. count on it.

being a former member of the us military, I take a strong exception to this statement as it stands. care to elaborate?

Well, nothing much TO elaborate on. Think of all the family members that won't have a chance to see their kids, parents, etc. They'll have to remain there for all eternity (what i'm getting out of this.) I'm a family man myself. If i was in the military, I would simply quit while i still can. Life's too short for me to spend the rest of my days in a land far from my own, just because the higher up's want me to.

This war has gone on far enough. The US needs to lighten up on its load. We're already in enough trouble as it is. We're still in a recession, we still have loose ends that desperately need tying up (I'm looking at you, Obamacare,) and other things that i can no longer remember. Amen.