国际英语新闻：NATO gambles on end to Afghan combat mission in 2014

LISBON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- After a decade of fighting that has cost the lives of more than 2,200 foreign troops, NATO leaders agreed Saturday to wind down their combat mission in Afghanistan over the next four years, handing over responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

"The Lisbon summit marks the beginning of the end of our mission in Afghanistan," said Spanish Defense Minister Carme Chacon.

NATO forces will begin handing over control to Afghan forces province-by-province starting early next year, in line with a timetable agreed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, allowing for the gradual withdrawal of the 130,000 NATO troops.

The decision is a gamble on the ability of international and Afghan forces to reverse the trend of growing Taliban strength. The prize for allied governments is an end to a war that is increasingly unpopular, particularly among European citizens who question the link between security at home and the costly military operations in the badlands of Kandahar and Helmand.

"Today marks the beginning of a new phase in our mission in Afghanistan," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the summit.

"We will launch the process by which the Afghan government will take leadership for security throughout the country, district by district, province by province. The direction, starting today, is clear: towards Afghan leadership, and Afghan ownership."

Fogh Rasmussen insisted, however, that NATO would not be abandoning Afghanistan, pointing to a commitment from the alliance leaders to step up training efforts for the Afghan forces and to maintain a support presence in the country for as long as is needed to contain the Taliban insurgents and their al Qaeda allies.

"We will not leave behind a security vacuum that will leave instability in the region," Fogh Rasmussen told a joint news conference with Karzai and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The decision to set a deadline for the handover means, however, that the allies will have to step up their training effort for the Afghan army and particularly the police.

Afghan forces have been plagued by high desertion rates and accusations of brutality and corruption. Despite some successes in creating effective fighting units, a major push will be needed before they are able to taken on a resurgent Taliban.

NATO's strategy, implemented by its U.S. force commander, Gen. David Petraeus, involves hitting the Taliban hard in the short-term to weaken the insurgents to allow for the eventual drawdown of allied troops. The alliance has been pumping in an extra 40,000 troops, mostly from the U.S.