"Earlier, on his overnight flight from Washington to Warsaw, Hagel told reporters that Karzai's foot-dragging puts at risk the planning necessary for a post-combat mission.
"You can't just keep deferring and deferring," he said, "because at some point, the realities of planning and budgeting — it collides."
Since the new year, the Obama administration has repeatedly said it needs an agreement signed in weeks, not months, if it is to keep any troops in Afghanistan in 2015.
In Kabul on Thursday, Karzai's national security adviser voiced optimism about the pact.
Rangin Dadfar Spanta said he has grown more hopeful that the Afghan leader will sign the agreement before leaving office this year. Karzai has repeatedly said he wants to wait to sign the document until after the country chooses his successor in April 5 elections."
No comments:
Post a Comment