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With an eye to withdrawing their combat forces from Afghanistan by2014, NATO leaders Monday approved a US-promoted plan to shift thecommand of combat operations to Afghan forces by mid-2013. The shift, part of what President Obama called a phasedtransition to responsibly bring this war to an end, is anotherstep in the NATO alliance s withdrawal from a fighting role in thedecade-long Afghanistan war. While the end of the Afghan war may be on the horizon for US andother international troops, that does not mean the conflict will beover in two years, regional experts say. The Taliban will remain afighting force, they say, and the fundamental question ofAfghanistan s stability is likely to be just as uncertain then asit is today. "This will not mark the end of Afghanistan's challenges,obviously," Mr. Obama said of the plan adopted at the summit to"transition" out of the Afghan war. But he said it is a plan for"helping the Afghans to stand on their own." The handover of operations command to the Afghans by the middle ofnext year is a sign that the 28-nation alliance is accelerating itsdrawdown from Afghanistan, say some regional experts particularly as NATO faces pressure from countries, like France,that have announced plans to step up their troop withdrawals. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen rebuffed those chargesat a summit-closing press conference, saying the 2013 transition toAfghan command does not represent an accelerated road map. He also cautioned that it does not mean the International SecurityAssistance Forces will cease to participate in combat operations a point the White House also emphasized in a statement. US and other international forces will continue to conduct combatoperations as necessary through the end of 2014, the statementnotes. Still, after the mid-2013 milestone, it continues,international forces will continue to evolve to reflect the newprimary focus on training, advising, and assisting the Afghansecurity forces. Mr. Rasmussen said next year s transfer of operational command tothe Afghans would be a crucial step in reaching the December 2014deadline for ending NATO s combat role smoothly and successfully. It takes usually 12 to 18 months to actively implement atransition, he said. Military experts say the shift to Afghan command next year makessense because it will give the US and other NATO officers time tomentor their Afghan counterparts on combat command while they arestill on the ground in sufficient numbers. Rasmussen said the transition plan for ending NATO s combat roleby the end of 2014 and then shifting to a training and assistancerole sends a strong signal to the people of Afghanistan, theneighbors of Afghanistan, and indeed, to the enemies ofAfghanistan that the world would remain engaged even as the wareffort ends. Citing a global commitment to stability in Afghanistan,Rasmussen said the international community is on track to reachthe goal of providing the Afghan security forces about $4 billionin annual funding. The $4 billion figure is based on a NATO planning assumption that foresees supporting an army and a national police force ofabout 230,000 personnel in the years after 2014. Earlier plans called for maintaining the current level of about350,000 forces, at a cost to the international community of about$6.5 billion a year. But figures have been revised downward as NATOplanners realized that international support at the higher levelwas unlikely. In a statement, the White House says a preliminary model envisions a conditions-based drawdown of Afghan security forcesto 228,500 by 2017, at an annual cost to the internationalcommunity of $4.1 billion a year. The Afghan government pledges to commit at least $500 million ayear to fund its forces, the White House says. Rasmussen said it is true that the 230,000 figure has beenmentioned, but he added that no decision has been made. Thenumbers for the years after 2014 will be based largely on twofactors, he said: the security situation on the ground, and thequality and capability of the Afghan security forces. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Washdown Two Piece Toilet , China Polished Ceramic Tile for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Glazed Porcelain Floor Tile.
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