The US has signalled it might not leave any troops in Afghanistan after its pullout, in spite of the Pentagon claiming thousands may be needed to contain al Qaida.
The issues will be central to talks this week as Afghan president Hamid Karzai meets Barack Obama and defence secretary Leon Panetta to discuss ways of framing an enduring partnership beyond December 2014 when combat troops are scheduled to be withdrawn.
“The US does not have an inherent objective of ‘X’ number of troops in Afghanistan,” said a White House spokesman.
“We have an objective of making sure there is no safe haven for al Qaida in Afghanistan and making sure that the Afghan Government has a security force that is sufficient to ensure the stability of the Afghan Government.”
The US now has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.
The US and its Nato allies agreed in November 2010 that they would withdraw all their combat troops by the end of 2014 but they have yet to decide what future missions will be necessary and how many troops they would require.
