Clinton Declares Afghanistan Major non-NATO Ally

On Saturday, the White House administration declared that Afghanistan was the United States’ latest “major non-NATO ally,” which is designed to allow for close cooperation in defense following the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014. It is also political statement that will support Afghanistan’s stability over the long term.

Hillary Clinton the U.S. Secretary of State made the White House administration announcement just after arriving in Afghanistan for more talks with Hamid Karzai, the President of Afghanistan. She said the U.S. sees this as a huge commitment to the future of Afghanistan and that the U.S. would never consider abandoning the country.

Clinton said the progress was consistent but incremental for the nation that has been war-torn after decades of different conflicts. The situation of security has become more stable said Clinton and the Afghan armed forces are increasing their capacity.

Karzai welcomed the U.S. Secretary of State to Kabul, while thanking the U.S. for continuing to support his country. Clinton repeated America’s strategy in Afghanistan of fight, talk and build. The goals is to defeat extremists, win the Taliban militants over and other who are willing to stop violence and then help out with the long reconstruction process of rebuilding Afghanistan.

Fighting is still taking place in Afghanistan, as coalition forces led by the U.S. and Afghan forces battle a number of insurgents in the country’s eastern region. Even though the casualty count has dropped among the foreign forces, 215 coalition forces lost their lives in just the first six months of the year.