US committed to enduring Afghan relationship: Pentagon

WASHINGTON (PAN, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, as it expressed satisfaction over the pace of the security transition.

“When it comes to Afghanistan, we’re working hard to define not just the near-term actions in terms of fighting the insurgency, but also what our long-term relationship will look like. We are committed to an enduring security relationship with the Afghans,” George Little, the Pentagon Press Secretary, told reporters at a news conference.

He said: “Our men and women are incredibly dedicated to their mission that includes the transfer of security responsibility to the Afghans lead and we think they’re having very good success.”

“We are looking at about half of the Afghan population that is now living under Afghan security lead which is an important development.” 

Little said there was a much difference in the current year’s fighting season than in many previous years and the Taliban partners were seeking, he said.

The Pentagon official said so far there was no problem with regard to the supplies to the soldiers based in Afghanistan even weeks after Pakistan closed the supply routes in retaliation to a NATO cross border attack.

“We are hopeful that the ground supply routes will be reopening in the near future, the war efforts do continue, and our troops are well-supplied in Afghanistan,” he said, adding it would be helpful to have those ground supply routes reopened.

He said General Allen, the top US and NATO troops’ commander in Afghanistan, and his team had done incredible work to ensure the mission continued in Afghanistan.

“Not going to get into specific time frames in terms of how long our supplies will last, but we have what we need for the near term,” Little said.

US and NATO commanders in Afghanistan have enough stockpiles. There has been no appreciable impact on operations throughout Afghanistan, said the Pentagon spokesman, Navy Captain, John Kirby.

“There are other avenues for support. You mentioned the Northern Distribution Network yourself. There are you can shift to other — to other arteries if you need to. But I think for the most part, General Allen has been able to subsist and to sustain the war effort based on stockpiles that he has on hand,” Kirby said in response to a question.

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