NATO leaders signed off Monday on President Barack Obama's exit strategy from Afghanistan that calls for an end to combat operations next year and the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international military force by the end of 2014. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters at the conclusion of a two-day summit of the alliance leaders that the plan calls for handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2013, then withdrawing foreign forces the following year. After that, a new and different NATO mission will advise, train and assist the expected 350,000-strong Afghanistan force, Rasmussen said. The plan is backed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who sat down Monday to speak exclusively with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks exclusively to CNN's Wolf Blitzer
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He says Afghan forces will "absolutely" be ready to take over security by 2014
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President Obama says NATO leaders are leaving Chicago with a "clear road map"
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NATO's secretary general says a new training and advising mission will come in 2015
"That transition and the eventual withdrawal in 2014 of the @placeholder forces and other NATO forces from Afghanistan is good for Afghanistan and good for our allied countries."
"That transition and the eventual withdrawal in 2014 of the U.S. forces and other @placeholder forces from Afghanistan is good for Afghanistan and good for our allied countries."
"This is part of what @placeholder defends -- is free speech and freedom of assembly," he said.