NATO to Plan Afghan Withdrawal Without Pact, Hagel Says

The U.S. and its NATO allies say they will begin planning for a complete withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan by December in the absence of a security agreement with the country’s government.

“The longer we go without a bilateral security agreement and a NATO status of forces agreement, the more challenging it will be” for the U.S. and its allies to prepare for a post-2014 mission in Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in Brussels yesterday after meeting with defense ministers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization whose members have deployed troops in Afghanistan.