Preventing Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist sanctuary still needs to be the mission of the United States, a former American spymaster has told lawmakers. "The mission it is to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a sanctuary for transnational extremists the way it was when Al-Qaeda had bases there under the Taliban rule in which the 9/11 attacks were planned and where the initial training of the attackers was conducted," former CIA Director Gen (rtd) David Petraeus told lawmakers. Sharing lawmakers' concerns about troop caps and time phased force draw downs, Petraeus called for re-examination of the caps and of the effects that they have on units. Sustained commitment, he asserted, would reassure the Afghans. (This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

Source: dna February 02, 2017 02:05 UTC