US is not leaving afghanistan! for decades...

[JayATL]

I keep seeing this chant from the pakistanis in other forums that the afghan - India deal is doomed to fail once US leaves and I guess they, Pak, can get taliban back in.

I feel like wringing the necks of those dumb pakistanis who don't know the difference between a draw down and leaving. US WILL NEVER LEAVE because it is sitting in a prime real estate in china's backyard. US WILL NEVER LEAVE- because it won't see taliban ever being in charge of Afghanistan ever again..

Its a freaking drawn down and not complete walk out....

The Daily Telegraph reports that the status of forces agreement that the United States and Afghanistan are negotiating may allow a U.S. military presence in the country until 2024 . That's a full 10 years beyond the deadline for withdrawal of U.S. combat troops and handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces.

The negotiations are being conducted under a veil of security, and we have no way of knowing, at this point at least, if the two sides are really talking about U.S. troops in the country for that long. ( The very fact that a decade after U.S. troops entered the country there is no formal agreement spelling out the terms of their deployment is in itself remarkable)

But it does seem more likely than not that there there will be a U.S. military presence, however small, in Afghanistan beyond 2014, and that is going to force the players involved in the conflict and those watching from the sidelines with more than a spectator's interest to rethink their calculations.

http://tacstrat.com/content/?p=4140
Extended US Military Presence in Afghanistan & Its Implications On Pakistan