Pack them up and bring them home, no American should die on the battlefield if we’re not there to win.
Via Politico:
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan will end in 2013 while troops will remain in the country in a support role through 2014, The Associated Press reports.
“Hopefully by the mid to latter part of 2013, we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise and assist role,” Panetta said, according to the AP, adding that this wouldn’t mean that “we’re not going to be combat-ready.”
He noted that no decision has been made about how many American troops would stay in Afghanistan in the post-combat stage, but did suggest that large reductions will occur in the months following the switch, the wire said.
Panetta made the remarks to reporters aboard a military aircraft en route to Brussels, where the issue of accelerated withdrawal from Afghanistan is expected to be on the agenda at a NATO meeting.