White House open to full Afghanistan withdrawal after 2014

[NewsCaster]

By NBC's Ali WeinbergFollow @AliNBCNews

Days before Afghan president Hamid Karzai is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama, senior administration officials said the White House will not rule out removing all troops from Afghanistan later than 2014 – when the U.S. combat mission expires.

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that the administration would consider a "zero option" because "the U.S. does not have an inherent objective of X number of troops in Afghanistan."

President Obama has reportedly received several proposals for residual troop levels beyond 2014, but this was the White House’s most explicit acknowledgement that it would consider leaving no U.S. troops in support roles in Afghanistan after the end of combat operations.




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