Story highlights
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says progress is "very real"
"Deadlines should not be dogmas," he told "60 Minutes"
While President Barack Obama said he is committed to withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by 2016, leaving local security forces in charge of their country’s own policing, the newly elected Afghan president said Obama should “re-examine” his timeline.
“Deadlines concentrate the mind. But deadlines should not be dogmas,” President Ashraf Ghani told CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
The United States ended its combat presence in Afghanistan last month. But about 10,000 troops remain for training and support roles.
“If both parties or, in this case, multiple partners, have done their best to achieve the objectives and progress is very real, then there should be willingness to re-examine a deadline,” Ghani said in the interview that aired Sunday night.
When asked whether he had told this to Obama, Ghani responded, “President Obama knows me. We don’t need to tell each other.”
His predecessor, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, would not sign a security agreement with the United States.