Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his governing partner, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, have made clear to the Afghan people that for all the assistance that the U.S. military and international community provides, the future of Afghanistan is ultimately for the Afghans to "grab hold of and for Afghans to decide," U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Monday in a joint Pentagon appearance with Ghani.
Secretary of State John Kerry, who, along with Carter, was to meet later in the day at the Camp David presidential retreat with Ghani and Abdullah, also appeared at the Pentagon gathering.
In his remarks, Ghani said that Afghanistan is "not going to be a burden. We ... are going to put our house in order. We are a front-line state." Afghanistan "will never be defeated," he said. "Terrorism is a threat, it is evil, but we, the people of Afghanistan, are willing to speak truth to terror by saying, no, you will never overwhelm us, you will never subdue us, we are going to overcome. ... And in this endeavor, our partnership with the United States is foundational, because we will be the first line of defense for freedom globally." Ghani has requested that President Barack Obama extend the stay of the 10,000 troops currently in Afghanistan through 2016. Based on current plans, U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are expected to drop to 5,500 by the end of this year.