Panetta: U.S. to Seek End to Combat Mission in Afghanistan Next Year

By Newsroom America Staff at 2 Feb 2012

(Newsroom America) -- The United States and NATO will seek an end to their combat missions in Afghanistan in 2013, more than a year earlier than first planned, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

His comments reflect a growing consensus within the administration to use Iraq as a model, where U.S. troops ended their combat mission some 16 months before withdrawing completely in December, the Washington Post reported.

Current strategy adopted by NATO in 2010 calls for a gradual shifting from primarily a combat role to a training, advisory and assistance role with the Afghan military ahead of a 2014 withdrawal of all combat troops.

The pace of the transition, however, is still not settled, and Panetta's timetable is faster than some within the administration were willing to state publicly, the paper said.

"Our goal is to complete all of that transition in 2013," he told reporters as he was heading to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. "Hopefully by mid- to the latter part of 2013 we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role."

Later in the day a spokesman for Panetta issued a statement saying that U.S. forces could still be involved in some combat operations with Afghan counterparts into 2014, said the Post.

One U.S. official, who was not named in the report, said consultations with NATO to establish a more firm timetable were "ongoing," and that nothing had been finalized. NATO leaders are scheduled to meet in Chicago in May.

The Afghan army has grown in terms of size and capability, the paper said, but they are still reliant on the U.S. military for air power, movement of supplies and medical care, among other things.

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