The U.S. military has revised plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan to allow the White House to wait until President Hamid Karzai leaves office before completing a security pact and settling on a post-2014 U.S. troop presence, officials said.

The option for waiting reflects a growing belief in Washington that there is little chance of repairing relations with Mr. Karzai and getting him to sign the bilateral security agreement before elections scheduled for the spring.

“If he’s not going to be part of the solution, we have to have a way to get past him,” said a senior U.S. official. “It’s a pragmatic recognition that clearly Karzai may not sign the BSA and that he doesn’t represent the voice of the Afghan people.” …

The revised drawdown schedule is based on a new plan the Pentagon presented to the White House in January that calls for keeping 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 at a limited number of bases. Military commanders say the force is needed to provide a stabilizing presence after this year’s election.