Nato commander warns full US troop pullout will aid al-Qaida in Afghanistan

Nato commander warns full US troop pullout will aid al-Qaida in Afghanistan | World | The Guardian:

"The commander of the US-Nato war in Afghanistan said Wednesday that a full troop withdrawal in December would prompt a rapid deterioration of gains made in the 13-year conflict.
“The only debate is the pace of that deterioration,” Marine General Joseph Dunford testified to the Senate armed services committee in comments that implicitly defied the White House.
In February, President Obama instructed the Pentagon to begin preparing for a total withdrawal of the approximately 33,000 US troops in Afghanistan after his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, refused to sign a long-term basing deal."