The protection and promotion of the rights of civilians should be among the t...

The protection and promotion of the rights of civilians should be among the top priorities of the international engagement in Afghanistan. In his address to the heads of State at the NATO summit in Lisbon, President Karzai said, “We are in dialogue with the International Security Assistance Force on issues of serious concern to the Afghan people, in particular: civilian casualties, detentions, lawless behavior by some security companies and, at times, NATO's posture. We need the space to discuss these issues and resolve them in a spirit of collaboration and teamwork. The sustainable solution to these issues will, of course, come from the realization of our common objective of replacing international forces with Afghan security forces."