Report: U.S. discussing shift to advisory role in Afghanistan
A formal agreement could come as early as May.
The Obama administration is discussing an accelerated plan to shift the U.S. military into an advisory role in Afghanistan and begin to scale back U.S. combat duties as soon as next year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The plan for a faster hand-off to Afghan leaders has been discussed in recent high-level meetings involving top defense and other administration official; no decisions on the strategy have been made. A formal agreement could come as early as May, officials said, when NATO convenes in Chicago.
Afghans are currently slated to take the lead for the country's security in 2014. President Obama has already announced a plan to to withdraw all 33,000 surge troops by the end of next summer-leaving around 68,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan next fall.