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US Expert Discusses NATO in Afghanistan and Beyond

By: VoA Pashto

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US Expert Discusses NATO in Afghanistan and Beyond - Video

NATO Secretary General President of Afghanistan - Foreign Ministers Meeting, 2 DEC 2014 - 1/2
Joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Aghan President Ghani following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Resolute Support Potential Operational Partner.

By: NATO

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NATO Secretary General & President of Afghanistan - Foreign Ministers Meeting, 2 DEC 2014 - 1/2 - Video

Joint press point by Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Mohammad Ashraf GHANI, President of Afghanistan
EN - Joint press point by Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Mohammad Ashraf GHANI, President of Afghanistan, in the presence of Afghan Prime Minister Dr. Abullah Abdulah - 02.12.2014 - Brussels....

By: Frdrick Moulin

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Joint press point by Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Mohammad Ashraf GHANI, President of Afghanistan - Video

WASHINGTON With violence on the rise and the 13-year-old NATO operation ending this month, the U.S. militarys mission in Afghanistan appears in flux as the Obama administration works to avoid an Iraq-style breakdown.

The White House has already made one important adjustment in recent weeks, broadening the list of possible U.S. targets during Operation Resolute Support, the planned two-year advisory and counterterrorism operation that begins in January.

And although administration officials insist there are no major changes in the works for planned troop levels and the timetable for U.S. withdrawal, analysts say those parameters may soon be adjusted as well. The Pentagon on Friday conmfimed that a bridging force will be needed, adding perhaps a few hundred more troops until Speing when NATO partners can furnish their trainers.

Two key factors have shifted since President Barack Obama in May publicly mapped out a plan for 9,800 U.S. troops and a few thousand more NATO coalition troops engaged in two narrow missions after 2014: training Afghan forces and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al-Qaida.

One is the meltdown in Iraq, where Islamic State militants sent U.S.-trained Iraqi forces into full retreat this spring and summer, prompting a growing American advisory mission there. The second is the fear that the rise in casualties inflicted by the Taliban on both government forces and civilians is foretaste of Iraq-style chaos is prompting a reassessment in Afghanistan, analysts say.

Equally important, after a protracted presidential election dispute, Afghanistan has new leaders who have signaled their eagerness to work with the United States. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is seen as a far more willing partner than his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. Ghani quickly ratified a key security agreement with the United States that Karzai had refused to sign.

As a result, the administration perceives a higher level of risk in Afghanistan, but greater latitude as well for U.S. action to counter it, said retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, a former top U.S. general in the country.

I think the combination of those two things are going to change the dynamic significantly in Afghanistan the next two years, said Barno, who is now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank with close ties to the Obama administration. I think all bets are probably off now.

Iraq appears to have shown the Obama administration what can go wrong in a formerly occupied country left with insufficient U.S. support, said Frederick Kagan, resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

One would like to think the White House noticed what happened in Iraq and decided it would be foolish to create conditions in Afghanistan that would make a repetition of that likely, he said.

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Afghanistan 2015: A mission in flux

Suicide attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan kills 9
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By: News in World

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Suicide attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan kills 9 - Video