THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Talks between the US and Karzai of the Afghans to work out a Status of Forces agreement may have reached a fatal deadlock. The sticking point is that favorite American activity, kicking down doors and "tossing" people's homes.

Despite recent optimism about talks over a future American military presence here, two senior Afghan officials said on Sunday that the negotiations were at a profound impasse, days before an Afghan grand council is scheduled to meet to seek popular support for a deal.

The officials said both sides had refused to budge on American negotiators’ insistence that United States troops retain the right, at least in some form, to enter Afghan homes — something President Hamid Karzai has openly opposed for years.

A senior American official in Washington said he “would not characterize remaining differences as an impasse.” He emphasized that the talks were continuing and that it was normal for such negotiations to run until the last moment. “Not only Karzai but a broad section of Afghanistan’s political leadership want to reach an agreement,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate negotiations.

Just a day earlier, on Saturday, Mr. Karzai said at a news conference that the two sides had agreed on the wording of an accord. He added, though, that until the day of the grand council meeting, or loya jirga, this week, “we will still continue our negotiations.”

Offstage, however, American raids continued to be a point of deadlock, according to the Afghan officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations were continuing. In recent days, the talks have been led on the Afghan side by Mr. Karzai, and on the American side by Ambassador James B. Cunningham and the military coalition commander, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.

The Afghan officials said Mr. Karzai would not change his position before Thursday’s loya jirga, to which 3,000 officials, elders and notables from around the country have been invited to ratify or reject the security agreement.

If they manage to reach an agreement, we won't really leave Afghanistan, we just won't make a big deal of it.

American officials want a force to stay in Afghanistan after the current combat mission ends on Dec. 31, 2014, mostly to train and provide logistical assistance to Afghan forces. But they also want the right to keep a small number of special operations forces there in order to pursue remnants of Al Qaeda, and they feel that without the ability to conduct raids, particularly night raids, on Afghan homes, those forces could not carry out their mission.

Let us all fervently wish for the failure of these talks so the troops can really come home.