NATO
leaders on Monday will endorse a plan to relinquish combat command in
Afghanistan by mid-2013. Most of the 130,000 troops in the country will
be withdrawn by 2014.
Reuters
reports that alliance leaders are now focused on the logistical
challenge of planning the actual physical exit of NATO troops and
supplies. They are currently trying to secure so-called “reverse
transit” routes that will allow NATO supplies currently in Afghanistan
to be moved through Uzbekistan and Pakistan on their way home.
Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, is attending the NATO summit
in Chicago. The country has blocked transit of supplies since a U.S.
drone attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year.
