WH considering withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan

President Obama will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai this Friday to discuss ongoing negotiations over the U.S.'s post-2014 role in Afghanistan, but the White House says not to expect any final decision about how many U.S. troops -- if any -- will stay in Afghanistan after the war's official drawdown at the end of next year.

In a conference call this afternoon, the Obama administration's Ben Rhodes told reporters that "they're not going to finalize that decision" in this discussion, but rather attempt to "reach a common understanding of how we can achieve" mutual objectives for the post-2014 relationship. Then, he says, negotiators in Washington "will be able to take that guidance and be able to finalize an agreement."

Among the topics up for discussion include the impending transition for the 2014 drawdown, as well as the plan for U.S. support in Afghanistan beyond that date. According to the White House, any continued U.S. troop presence will be guided by a few key goals: Assuring the continued progress of ongoing counterterrorism efforts and training and equipping the national Afghan security forces, while also guaranteeing full Afghan sovereignty.

• U.S. commander proposes Afghan troop options for after 2014
• As U.S. troops leave, Afghans fear for what's next

"That's what guides us and that's what causes us to look for different potential troop numbers, or not having potential troops in the country," said Rhodes. "With the Afghans we'll be discussing how best to achieve those missions."

In that vein, Rhodes says the White House is not ruling out the possibility of withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan post-2014.

"That would be an option that we would consider. Because again, the president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan," he said. "He views these negotiations as in service of these two missions" of counterterrorism and training and equipping Afghan forces.

"There are of course many different ways of accomplishing those objectives -- some of which might involve US troops, some of which might not," Rhodes said.

Despite speculation about the White House's plans for U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the war, Doug Lute, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for South Asia, told reporters that he would not "lend any credibility" to the "wide range of numbers that have been available publicly" with regard to post-2014 U.S. troop presence.

Those numbers, he said, are predicated upon certain variables that are still up in the air.

At present, Lute says, Mr. Obama and Karzai will be more focused on what post-2014 missions might require U.S. troops in Afghanistan and what authorities the U.S. would need to implement those missions rather than exactly how many troops they'd require.

"They're going to be talking about missions and authorities -- not numbers," he said.

[knsn_for_cmn_sense]

um Hellz ya..... Get us OUTA there. Dont ever look back or go there again.

[joesapper]

Considering the instability of many today , how many have been lost to Afghan movements of a decade ago in Africa , Mid East , and Asia ?

So how is Iraq doing ? If a hard result had taken place a decade ago in Afghanistan , with a short term mission with long term results , imprinted on the minds of the region , those taliban actors would have taken another direction , which Russia would have had to deal with , but no , Nato had to be the one holding the bag .

So now that the bank accounts are running on a China credit card , and unrest spreads quickly in the above mentioned locations , the result that was decared years ago by the common Folk is now fact .

To put it simply , the Chiefs and Brass were greatly lacking in wisdom . What would the number of the population of Afghanistan be , that a Nato soldier could turn his arms over to in an Afghan residence and go to sleep and awake in the morning and have his arms returned to him , 10% , 5% , or much less ?

Over ten years and we still do not have the trust and the desire of the people on our side . And Iran has greatly increased its military and proxy influence . How will history record these last ten years ?

[ammo17]

sounds like a good idea to me,have we ever picked the right dictator for any foreign country we got involved with?i don`t think so!

[myopinionpal]

Seal Team 6 took care of the reason why we are in Afghanistan, the drawdown should of started after they tossed Osama bin Laden body in
the indian ocean.

[omnibus66]

This is exactly the reason the pugs don't want Hagel as defense head. Without the Afghan war, our military will have a much weaker case to clamor for additional hundreds of billions of dollars to waste. If we could only get Rumsfeld back, we could start at least two or three brand new wars in the next six months. Oh, for the good old days under GWB.

[RollotheNorman]

Rummy won't come back, he's still pouting.

[knsn_for_cmn_sense]

Throw ALL of that money in to infrastructure projects.

[johnlockesghost]

Pull the troops from foreign lands and use them to reform illegal immigration.

[AVoiceofR3ason]

For some unknown reason the Government and American public believe that by killing people in third world countries we are somehow safer. The logic defies imagination but that's what makes us all sleep better at night. Meanwhile our borders are completely porous and we are giving amnesty to illegals in our country. The next 9/11 isn't a matter of if, but when. The only way to secure the US is from inside out... want to see this in action... reference Israel, a nation that is under attack from every wild-eyed heaven seeking suicide bomber in the middle east.

Wake up... let's get out of there and get working over here!

[sobobx]

Out of that cesspool NOW!

[hillzagain]

So the headline reads WH considering withdrawing all troops, then the article says don't expect anything until end of next year.

what a stupid article.

[modeloman]

and you are still here reading and trolling them

[bobnjersey]

[So the headline reads WH considering withdrawing all troops, then the article says don't expect anything until end of next year. what a stupid article.]
-----------------------------------------------------
so it sounds like the headline worked as designed ... you came ... you read ... you commented.

did you see the story about the 'trillion dollar coin'?

[stamicrach]

We should have been out of there COMPLETELY a long time ago.

Karzai has repeatedly criticized and demonized American troops to the entire world.

Now; the very people we were sent over there to "train" Afghan troops and police to defend themselves against the Taliban are slaughtering our troops.

Once bin-Laden was killed; we should have started pulling out of there the next day.

Karzai has been collecting billions both from the US and Iran for years, and I'd be willing to bet when the Americans pull out of Afghanistan Karzai will vacate the place and seek asylum in some Muslim country and take his billions with him.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.!!

Afghanistan and Karzai are not worth one more American life.!