White House officials said on Tuesday that the Obama Administration will withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan when the NATO combat mission officially ends in 2014, according to CNN News.
Ben Rhodes made the announcement as the Pentagon and White House continue to talk and decide how many troops should be left in Afghanistan after the withdrawal in 2014. These troops will be responsible for fighting rebels and training Afghan security forces
Both countries' presidents are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the matter further.
"We have an objective of making sure there's no safe haven for al Qaeda within Afghanistan and making sure that the Afghan government has a security force that is sufficient, again, to assure the stability of the Afghan government and the denial of that safe haven," Rhodes said. "That's what causes us to look for different potential troop numbers or not having potential troops in the country."
Rhodes said there will be no exceptions made on a post 2014 troop deal that was made during Hamid Karzai's visit. The White House however, said they will ensure that Afghanistan doesn't return to the hands of al Qaeda.
"The president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan," he said. "And we're guided by the shared missions that we've agreed to with the Afghans, the training and equipping of their forces, and counterterrorism."
A meeting has been scheduled Friday in Washington between Karzai with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the future of Afghanistan and America's role after the NATO combat mission comes to an end.
