WASHINGTON (AP) — Charting the course for a war's end, President
Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai meet Friday at the White
House to discuss the future of the U.S. role in Afghanistan and the
66,000 American troops in harm's way.
The two leaders plan a joint afternoon news conference.
White House officials said, however, that Obama will not announce any
decisions on the next phase of troop withdrawals or whether any U.S.
forces will stay behind in Afghanistan after the war formally ends in
2014.
U.S. commanders in Afghanistan have proposed keeping
6,000 to 15,000 U.S. troops after 2014 to continuing pursuing terrorists
and training Afghan security forces. But the White House, which tends
to favor lower troop levels than the generals, says Obama would be open
to pulling all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
"We wouldn't rule out any option," said Ben Rhodes,
Obama's deputy national security adviser. "We're not guided by the goal
of a certain number of U.S. troops in the country. We're guided by the
objectives that the president set — disrupt, dismantle, defeat
al-Qaida."
Beyond troop levels, Obama and Karzai are also expected
to discuss preparations for next year's Afghan elections and the
prospects for advancing Afghan peace talks with the Taliban.
Friday's meeting will be the first between Obama and
Karzai since November's U.S. presidential election. Heading into his
second term, Obama is shaking up his national security team, including
key players who deal with Karzai and the war.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta are both expected to leave their posts within
weeks. The president nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as the nation's
top diplomat and former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., to lead the Pentagon.
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