| CNN International | - |
Washington
(CNN) -- The Obama administration is considering the possibility of
removing all U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission
officially finishes at the end of 2014, White House officials said
Tuesday.
U.S. may remove all troops from Afghanistan after 2014
January 9, 2013 -- Updated 0038 GMT (0838 HKT)
US
Marines from Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion 8th Marines Regiment head
out on patrol in Garmser, Helmand Province, last June.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Administration mulls how many troops to leave in country after major pullout
- Obama to meet Friday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai
- U.S. seeks legal protection for small number of troops left behind
- Lack of legal agreement prompted complete pullout from Iraq
The comments by Ben
Rhodes, the White House's deputy national security adviser, come as the
Pentagon and White House mull over the number of troops that could be
left in Afghanistan after 2014 to fight insurgents and train Afghan
security forces.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Obama are scheduled to meet on Friday in Washington.
Rhodes said the
administration is considering a range of options, with one scenario
having no U.S. troops there. The range, according to defense officials,
had until recently been between 6,000 and 15,000 U.S. troops possibly
remaining in the country, based on an assessment by the U.S. top
commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen.
Graham on withdrawing from Afghanistan
U.S. troop level options in Afghanistan
"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," he continued.
Rhodes said there were no
expectations of any deal on post-2014 troop levels during the Karzai
visit, and he said it could be months before any decision was made.
The White House remains
committed to ensuring Afghanistan does not return to its status as a
safe haven for Al Qaeda, Rhodes said
"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."
But the United States also is insistent on legal protection for any troops in Afghanistan after 2014.
If there is no agreement
on that between the United States and Karzai between now and the end of
2014, then it could lead to a similar situation for the United States
as when it left Iraq.
The refusal by the Iraqi
government to extend legal protections for U.S. troops after the end of
the war in Iraq was a major reason the United States left the country
with no residual military training force.
But Karzai has said he
would like for U.S. troops to remain after the end of the NATO mission.
He also has been highly critical of the troops over the years, following
incidents in which U.S. forces have killed civilians.
U.S. defense officials are playing a wait-and-see game on what the Karzai visit will produce.
As one defense official
told CNN on Monday about the Afghan president, "It's Karzai; who knows
what he will want on any given day?"
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