Hillary warns against hasty Afghan withdrawal

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday backed away from a US timeline to start pulling troops from Afghanistan in July, warning “political expediency” would benefit the Taliban.Speaking at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Berlin, Clinton also warned of a “violent spring fighting season” in Afghanistan as the Taliban try to exert themselves in areas where Afghan forces are due to assume control.“We have to steel ourselves and our publics for the possibility that the Taliban will resort to the most destructive and sensational attacks we have seen,” she said.“We need to ensure that our sacrifices are not overtaken by political expediency and short-term thinking,” Clinton told the NATO meeting in Berlin.“We need to worry less about how fast we can leave and more about how we can help the Afghan people build on the gains of the past 15 months,” she said.“For the transition to be sustainable and irreversible, and for reconciliation and diplomacy to bear fruit, we must sustain our efforts,” Clinton said, according to her prepared remarks. “We need to underscore that we are transitioning, not leaving,” she said.The Obama administration has gradually de-emphasised the timeframe, instead saying that most US forces would leave in 2014 -- the date set by last years NATO summit for putting Afghans in charge of their own countrys security.Clinton renewed a US call for NATO nations to drum up $1 billion to help sustain the Afghan National Army.Clinton’s robust call on Afghanistan came at a NATO meeting dominated by Libya, where France and Britain have taken the lead and sought greater support from NATO allies.