Washington: US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton on Sunday said that the American troops in Afghanistan can
start coming home if there was conducive atmosphere, including
improvement in the security situation in the war-torn nation.
"Absolutely, (US troops) can begin coming home,"
Clinton told the CBS news in an interview when asked about the
return of troops from Afghanistan.
Clinton said, "As we assess the conditions on the
ground, we will be transferring responsibility to the Afghans.
Depending on the assessment at the time, that means some of
our troops can begin coming home."
Jointly appearing on the same Sunday talk show, US
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there is no deadline of
withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
"There isn`t a deadline. What we have is a specific
date on which we will begin transferring responsibility for
security, district by district, province by province, in
Afghanistan to the Afghans.
"The process of that and the subsequent thinning of
our forces will take place over a period of time and will
happen and will be done based on the conditions on the ground.
And the decision on that will be made by our commanders in the
field," Gates said.
Clinton said there is no arbitrary time.
"It is an assessment based on what we see happening,
that, we will be able to transfer responsibility and that will
very likely mean some troops can come home," Clinton said.
She said, "I really believe that the President was
very clear in his speech that we want to evidence both
resolve and urgency at the same time."
"This is a very big commitment. The President engaged
in a deliberative process that led to this decision. And he is
resolved to do what he can with these new troops to break the
momentum of the Taliban, to begin taking back territory, to
stand up the Afghan security forces in an effective way on a
faster timetable, and that we believe, based on everything
that`s going on," Clinton said.
"We want it to move quickly. We want to show urgency
about our aims here. And we do expect to start this transition
in July 2011. And I think everybody is very clear about that.
All of the generals are. We certainly are. But it`s hard to
sit here today in Washington and predict exactly what that
pace will be," Gates said.
He said it`s an effort to try and let the Afghans know
that while the US intend to have a relationship and support
them for a long time, the nature of that relationship is going
to begin to change in July of 2011.
“As the security component comes down, the economic
development, and the political relationship will become a
bigger part of the relationship. We`re not going to abandon
Afghanistan like we did in 1989. But the nature of the
relationship will change," he said.
PTI
