The United States plans to limit its combat role in Afghanistan and change their focus to hunt insurgent leaders and train local troops using Special Operations forces, senior Pentagon officials and military officers said on Saturday. Those Special Ops forces could remain in Afghanistan well after 2014 when NATO's mission ends. The plan comes a year earlier than expected and if approved by President Obama, would allow conventional troops to leave the area first, but may also force the number of Special Ops troops in the area to grow.
