KABUL — A top NATO official said Wednesday that a complete handover of security to Afghan forces by 2014 was “realistic, but not guaranteed,” and the transition could last into 2015 “or beyond.”
Mark Sedwill, NATO’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, cautioned that there could be “levels of violence that are, by Western standards, pretty eye-watering,” even after 2014.
Sedwill spoke on the eve of a NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, at which the alliance is expected to agree on a framework for the eventual departure of international troops from Afghanistan, where they’ve been fighting for nine years.
The United States invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Sedwill’s remarks appeared aimed at conditioning weary American and European publics to the likelihood that the transition won’t be clear-cut or inexpensive. They threw the end date for U.S. and other foreign combat forces further into question.
Aides to President Barack Obama are playing down the deadline of July 2011, when the first U.S. troops are supposed to withdraw — at least according to Obama’s speech last December.
The July date has long been a point of contention between the White House, which is trying to allay concerns at home, and the Pentagon, where officials say more time is needed to conduct a counterinsurgency strategy.
Sedwill said there had been a “refocus of attention on 2014” as the transition date.
In Washington, a defense official said the Obama administration recognized that NATO training and assistance would continue beyond 2014, but he said the training, advising and limited logistical support would be the major mission.
Under a classified campaign plan that Sedwill and military commander U.S. Gen. David Petraeus submitted in advance of the summit, the Afghan army and police assume control of security in most Afghan provinces four years from now. The process is supposed to begin in the first half of 2011.
