Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made 2014 the target for Afghan forces to assume full security responsibility from foreign forces, with Washington planning to begin a gradual drawdown of its forces from July 2011.

Others doubt enough Afghan forces will be ready in time to meet Karzai’s target, but U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have called it realistic…

Sedwill said the transition could run “to 2015 and beyond” in some areas that could still face security problems.

“We expect to have strategic overwatch in large parts of the country by that time (2014),” he told reporters in Kabul, with civil administration to follow the security transition.