Pentagon officials: US to overstay in Afghanistan
Pentagon officials say they expect that American troops would remain in Afghanistan after the US-backed mission ends in late 2014, despite international calls for withdrawal of foreign troops from the country. - US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that Washington would sustain a strategic partnership with Kabul, a “modest” number of US troops would stay in the war-ravaged country after the 2014 pullout deadline. "I've never heard anyone suggest -- no one has ever suggested zero to me. And I think that the ultimate number will be based on the mission and how deeply we want to be involved with their continued development, and also what they want. I mean, literally what the sovereign nation of Afghanistan wants," General Dempsey said.
Jason Ditz: Panetta: ‘Enduring Presence’ in Afghanistan