Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Obama address the media in the East Room of the White House yesterday. (REUTERS)
WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday vowed to bring the war in Afghanistan to a “responsible end” and will speed up transition of the US military’s mission from combat fighting to one of assisting the Afghans.
“The transition is well under way,” Obama said at the White House alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “By the end of next year, 2014, the transition will be complete. Afghans will have full responsibility for their security, and this war will come to a responsible end.
“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission: training, advising, assisting Afghan forces.” Obama continued. “It will be a historic moment.”
Obama didn’t say how many of the roughly 66,000 current US troops could be shifted out of the war zone on the new timetable, saying it’s “something that isn’t yet fully determined.”
Nor did he say how many troops he wants to leave there to conduct counterterrorism missions against al Qaeda.
“That is a very limited mission. And it is not one that would require the same kind of footprint,” he said.
Obama also said he wants an agreement that assures any US forces who remain after 2014 will not be “subject to the jurisdiction” of Afghanistan.
Karzai, sporting a long robe, acknowledged corruption in his administration when asked about it and pledged to go “very happily” into retirement after elections next year.
“There is corruption in the Afghan government that we are fighting against, employing various means and methods. We have succeeded in certain ways. But if your question is whether we are satisfied — of course not,” Karzai said.