US signals 2013 end to Afghan mission



Defence secretary Leon Panetta says the United States intends to end combat operations in Afghanistan before the end of 2013, laying down a new marker for winding down America's longest war.

The timetable described by Mr Panetta appears to be the first time the US has said it would shift into a supporting role, training and advising Afghan troops, by next year.

His remarks come as allies like France appear to be looking to exit Afghanistan and US president Barack Obama is eager to show voters that American involvement is ending.

"Our goal is to complete all of that transition in 2013 and then hopefully by mid to the latter part of 2013 we'll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise-and-assist role," Mr Panetta said.

His comments came days after French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is facing a difficult re-election campaign, announced he would pull troops out of Afghanistan by the end of next year.

Four French soldiers were killed last month by a rogue Afghan soldier.

Mr Sarkozy also urged other NATO members to do the same, threatening to upend a well-settled strategy approved at a summit in Lisbon two years ago that calls for the transition to Afghan security leadership by the end of 2014.

It remains to be seen how the new US timetable for ending combat operations will affect the calculations of Taliban insurgents, who have been fighting a bloody guerrilla war against NATO forces.

Strategy

The US has been trying to draw the Taliban into reconciliation talks with the Afghan government of president Hamid Karzai.

But a key part of its strategy has been to increase military pressure on the Taliban to persuade it to join peace talks.

In a new classified report obtained by British media, NATO said the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, remained confident despite a decade of NATO efforts that it would retake control of Afghanistan.

Mr Panetta portrayed the new timetable for ending US combat operations in mid to late 2013 as an implementation of previous NATO strategy agreed to at Lisbon.

"In the Lisbon discussions, it was always clear that there would come a point which we would make that transition and then be able to hopefully consolidate those gains in 2014," he said.

"So the bottom line is no, this isn't a new strategy. It's basically implementing what Lisbon is all about."

A quicker end to US combat in Afghanistan could give Mr Obama an election-year lift, allowing him to point to a plan for ending the war.

As of January 1, 889 US soldiers had been killed in a conflict that was launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

US forces number about 90,000 among the 130,000-strong NATO-led force.


http://abc.com.au/news/2012-02-02/us-to-end-afghanistan-combat-operations-in-20133a-panetta/3807318

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/01/taliban-afghanistan-leaked-report-pakistan

Quote:

A secret US military report says the Taliban, heavily backed by Pakistan, are confident they can win the Afghanistan conflict, and that they are gaining popular support at the expense of the Kabul government.

Someones got to look after all the drug operations up there

Key points from the report State of the Taliban published by the BBC:


-Taliban consider victory inevitable once the International Security Assistance Force leaves Afghanistan


-Senior Taliban representatives maintain residences near the ISI headquarters in Islamabad


-Taliban see little hope of negotiated peace in Afghanistan


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-02/leaked-nato-report-finds-taliban-pakistan-links/3806102/?site=melbourne



Well done LibLab for wasting Life and Limb ... and $Billion$ in Australian Taxes

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-02/leaked-nato-report-finds-taliban-pakistan-links/3806102/?site=melbourne

Australia should not waste any more lives in Afghanistan.....Now that the Taliban will be returned to power it is apparent the mission is over.....the Coalition and ALP have sacrificed our young men to remove the threat of terrorism which with OBL gone is the best we can achieve.....Remaining in Afghanistan any longer will now achieve nothing for Australia's security!!!

this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now.

There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot.

longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 6:13pm:

this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now. There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot.

You come pretty close!!!

philperth2010 wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 6:14pm:

longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:13pm: this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now. There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot. You come pretty close!!!

very low phil... you gott admit hypocrisy is something green-snot not only does exceedingly well but regularly

longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 7:12pm:

philperth2010 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:14pm: longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:13pm: this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now. There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot. You come pretty close!!! very low phil... you gott admit hypocrisy is something green-snot not only does exceedingly well but regularly

Everyone is entitled to their opinion Longy.....sometimes I agree with Green and sometimes I don't....pretty much the same as you and I.....Defending the Greens might be stupid but he is consistent and not hypocritical IMO!!!

philperth2010 wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 7:22pm:

longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 7:12pm: philperth2010 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:14pm: longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:13pm: this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now. There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot. You come pretty close!!! very low phil... you gott admit hypocrisy is something green-snot not only does exceedingly well but regularly Everyone is entitled to their opinion Longy.....sometimes I agree with Green and sometimes I don't....pretty much the same as you and I.....Defending the Greens might be stupid but he is consistent and not hypocritical IMO!!!

he has spent the last few years criticising the afghan action and here he is criticising the end of it. So exactly what is that if not hypocrisy???

longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 7:25pm:

philperth2010 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 7:22pm: longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 7:12pm: philperth2010 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:14pm: longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 6:13pm: this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now. There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot. You come pretty close!!! very low phil... you gott admit hypocrisy is something green-snot not only does exceedingly well but regularly Everyone is entitled to their opinion Longy.....sometimes I agree with Green and sometimes I don't....pretty much the same as you and I.....Defending the Greens might be stupid but he is consistent and not hypocritical IMO!!! he has spent the last few years criticising the afghan action and here he is criticising the end of it. So exactly what is that if not hypocrisy???

Greens has been against the war from the beginning because he said it was a waste of time and would achieve nothing......He is now gloating to the fact he has been proven correct.....I was wrong Longy because I originally supported the war in Afghanistan (not Iraq) and swallowed the terrorist crap I was being fed......Now the people we where told we had to fight and depose are going to come back and run the country again like nothing had happened.....How are the Taliban all of the sudden worthy allies when we where told they had to be removed for the sake of the Afghan people.....Greens was correct and has every right to feel vindicated by his stand!!!

longweekend58 wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2012 at 6:13pm:

this is the same greed_snot that has been calling for a withdrawal from afghanistan for years now. There is no better exponent of the art of hypocrisy than green-snot.

Try and keep on topic old man.


It's LibLab that dragged us into this wasteful war for no reason.


It is LibLab that has blood on their hands.


Parliament should now decide what wars we enter ... not LibLab warmongers who send our young people in to die for NOTHING !!!