White House gives Afghan plan outline

WASHINGTON – The White House on Tuesday unveiled a plan for Afghanistan that foresees U.S. troops remaining there until at least the end of 2014, more than three years beyond when President Barack Obama promised he would begin withdrawing troops from the war-torn country.

White House officials said the U.S. will introduce the plan at a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, that begins on Friday. In outlining the proposal, the officials made no mention of U.S. troops withdrawing in 2011 and instead referred to the date as the beginning of “a responsible transition.”

The plan is the latest iteration of an unfolding U.S. strategy in Afghanistan that began with a months-long policy review last year followed by the deployment of 30,000 more U.S. troops over the summer. In announcing the additional troops, Obama said a withdrawal would begin in July 2011 and that there would be an extensive review of the strategy this December.

McClatchy Newspapers reported last week that the Obama administration would use the Lisbon meeting to begin de-emphasizing the 2011 withdrawal date in favor of a 2014 date.

Under the latest plan, U.S. and NATO officials will begin next year handing responsibility for security to Afghan forces in some communities where NATO officials believe Afghan forces are capable of taking control. The process will continue through 2014. The U.S. and NATO will remain in Afghanistan through that period.

As the Afghan forces “stand up, they will not have to stand alone,” said Douglas Lute, the president’s special assistant for Afghanistan.

The plan is the first time the Obama administration has offered a timeline for the pace of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But even the 2014 date could change – something some military commanders fear might be necessary because of the difficulty of training Afghan forces.