According to The Wall Street Journal, the Obama administration is considering switching U.S. troops in Afghanistan to an advisory role as soon as next year, well before the scheduled withdrawal of American troops in 2014. It would mark the end of the current approach, which deploys troops to protect Afghan civilians, and could signal instead a new focus on counterterrorism operations. No decisions have been made, but the Obama administration could bring up the issue with NATO at the organization’s May meeting.
