Karzai and Fogh Rasmussen on plans for Afghans to take over security by 2014
(18 Oct 2012) SHOTLIST 1. Various of Afghan President Hamid Karzai shaking hands with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen 2. Wide of Karzai and Rasmussen in a meeting 3. Mid of Rasmussen speaking 4. Mid of Karzai 5. Karzai and Rasmussen seated at meeting 6. Afghan honour guard holding a NATO flag 7. Karzai and Rasmussen arriving for a news conference 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary-General: "Our strategy is working, and our timeline remains unchanged. We are all committed to seeing our combat mission through by the end of 2014." 9. Wide of news conference 10. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Hamid Karzai, Afghan President: "I don't think that the US presidential election, regardless of the winner, whether it's the Republican party or the Democratic party, would have any impact on Afghanistan. America has a set strategy for Afghanistan and any government who comes in will follow that, so it will not affect Afghanistan." 11. Wide of news conference STORYLINE NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance remains committed to help enable Afghan forces assume full responsibility for the country's security after 2014. "Our strategy is working, and our timeline remains unchanged. We are all committed to seeing our combat mission through by the end of 2014," he said. The military alliance has also agreed to offer a smaller, post-2014 mission to help Afghan forces with training, advice and assistance. The secretary-general and NATO's governing body, the North Atlantic Council, were visiting Kabul on Thursday for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, coalition military commander General John Allen and commanders of Afghan government forces. Karzai meanwhile, said he did not believe the outcome of the upcoming US presidential elections would affect Washington's long-term policy toward Afghanistan . "America has a set strategy for Afghanistan and any government who comes in will follow that, so it will not affect Afghanistan," he said. Karzai has also said that the nation's military and police are ready and willing to take full responsibility for security in the country if the US-led international coalition decides to speed up the handover to Afghan government forces. With support for the already unpopular war fading in the West, there has been growing speculation that NATO could accelerate withdrawal plans that currently call for the security transition to Afghan forces to be complete by the end of 2014, when all foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave the country. There are questions, however, about the ability of the Afghan forces to secure the country. The Afghan army has grown to 184,676 soldiers, and the country's police force now numbers 146,339 officers, putting them just short of the planned number of 352-thousand members. But critics say the rapid expansion has not significantly improved their ability to plan and conduct operations without support from foreign forces in terms of logistics, air support and medical evacuations. Furthermore, the number of Afghans leaving the army has remained stubbornly high, with 27 percent of troops either deserting or not re-enlisting despite the higher salaries offered. And though the number of volunteers is still high, the army needs to train about 50-thousand recruits each year just to compensate for the loss. Polls show that the 11-year war has little public support among NATO's 28 member states, most of which are cutting defence budgets as part of the austerity measures adopted to deal with the financial crises. =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
