The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 14, 2013

U.S. Accelerates Timeline for Transfer to Afghan Forces 
--------------------------------------------------------


 
The latest violence in Afghanistan comes days after President Obama
announce plans to speed up the transfer of formal military control to
the Afghan forces. Appearing with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the
White House Friday, Obama said a transition to Afghan military
leadership of combat missions will take place in the spring instead of
the summer.

President Obama: "Today we agreed that as Afghan forces take the lead
and as President Karzai announces the final phase of the transition,
coalition forces will move to a support role this Spring. President
Karzai and I also discussed the nature of our security cooperation after
2014. Our teams continue to work towards a security agreement and as
they do, they will be guided by our respect for Afghan sovereignty and
by our two long-term tasks, which will be very specific and very narrow
tasks. First — training and assisting Afghan forces and second
— targeted counter-terrorism missions against al-Qaeda and its
affiliates."

 

.