US to leave troops in Afghanistan after 2014, says German official

[rachel1]

Source: The Guardian

The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, and his Nato counterparts are considering leaving 8,000 to 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014, but a dispute arose on Friday between the US and Germany over whether the force would be international or purely American.

The conflicting accounts came as Nato defence ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss the endgame of the 11-year-old war. Barack Obama has said the last foreign combat troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

The German defence minister, Thomas de Maizière, told reporters Panetta had told him at the meeting that the US would leave 8,000-10,000 troops in the country at the end of 2014. But Panetta, speaking to reporters later, called De Maizière's comments inaccurate.

Panetta, who is about to step down, told reporters the Nato partners talked about ranges of options for post-2014. He said the figures reflected contributions other nations would make.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/22/us-troops-afghanistan

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Just when some folks actually believed that the imperialists and the military-industrial complex would depart Afghanistan by 2014.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Er...better get that straightened out, then. Where would the German Defense minister

get the idea that the US alone would make up such a big post-war presence?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. After? The German defense minister could truthfully say "Forever."

[OKNancy]

3. From the article

[Panetta's] spokesman, George Little, said that the range for an international force was 8,000 to 12,000. "The reports that the US told allies that we are considering 8,000 to 12,000 US troops after 2014 are not correct," Little said. "A range of 8,000 to 12,000 troops was discussed as the possible size of the overall Nato mission, not the US contribution."