Afghanistan to 2014 Factsheet mentioned in Reuters
ASP’s Afghanistan to 2014 timeline factsheet was mentioned in a Reuters blog . Take a look at the fact sheet here.
Source: Reuters, January 31, 2012
Yet what chafed was that Sarkozy, who also announced France was pulling its own combat troops out by the end of 2013, gave the appearance of breaking ranks – undermining the consensus needed to give western countries leverage as they negotiate their way out of Afghanistan. He was also seen as being driven more by domestic politics after four French soldiers were killed than by a desire to frame a coherent, internationally agreed strategy.
That is significant, not so much for what it means before 2014, but for what it says about the international approach to Afghanistan after 2014. Right now, the international community is engaged in a game of bluff about who is going to pick up the tab to fund Afghanistan’s development and security forces after 2014 – to succeed, all countries are going to have to agree to share the burden. If each country decides to put their domestic politics – and budgets – first, that is not going to happen and the Kabul government will fall. (The American Security Project has a great timeline illustrating the intersection between national elections and the Afghan withdrawal.)
