Source: DTN News / Telegraph.co.uk
(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - March 10, 2010: US troops could start withdrawal from Afghanistan before the July 2011 deadline set
by Barack Obama, the Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, has hinted.
Mr Gates made the remarks during a visit to a dust-blown training ground in Kabul province where Afghan soldiers come for weeks of training under U.S. and British instruction. British Brigadier Simon Levy told Gates that if Nato countries contribute more trainers, the project to expand the Afghan army will keep pace.
But he said any withdrawal "would have to be conditions-based."
The goal is to reach 134,000 trained forces this fall. The Pentagon hopes the Afghans will soon ease the load on U.S. forces.
Mr Gates, and Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan Defence Minister, said his troops were eager to take on the responsibility for defending the country, but gave no indication of when that might be possible.
Mr Gates said, "We will begin that transition no later than July of 2011, but the pace will depend also on conditions on the ground."
Still, the Pentagon chief said, "We should not be too impatient."
His comments came as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, visited the country. At a press conference in Kabul he said that the US "themselves created terrorists and now they say they are fighting terrorists".
He said: "We do not see the presence of foreign military forces in Afghanistan as a solution for peace in Afghanistan."
Mr Gates watched as Afghan troops dealt with a simulated roadside bomb explosion. He stood on an embankment above the road as Afghan soldiers leapt out of a convoy, tended to casualties and contained the explosive.
He said he was very impressed by what he saw.
"Although attention may be focused on operations in the south today, the training that is going on in this facility is even more important," he said. "At the end of the day, only Afghans will be able to provide long-term security for Afghanistan."
U.S. forces are engaged in a major offensive against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan. Gates visited some of those troops on Tuesday.
Reporters also asked Gates about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announced visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday.
"It's certainly bothersome," he said. "We think Afghanistan should have good relations with all its neighbours, but we want all of Afghanistan's neighbours" to deal fairly with President Hamid Karzai's government.
Gates has accused Tehran of "playing a double game" in Afghanistan by trying to woo the Afghan government while undermining U.S. and Nato efforts by helping the Taliban.
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