Afghanistan Agrees to Keep 10K US Troops There; Will Foil Terrorists' Use of That Nation for Attacks

The U.S. and Afghanistan today (September 30, 2014) agreed to a security deal to allow 10,000 American troops to remain permanently stationed in Afghanistan when the international combat mission ends December 31, 2014, according to The Daily Beast website.

The two countries signed the accord in Kabul today, days after Afghanistan officially inaugurated Ashraf Ghani as its new president.

Ghani's predecessor, Hamid Karzai, had refused to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement because of his strained negotiations with Washington.

The pact establishes a U.S. presence in Afghanistan and a system for training Afghan soldiers, so that "terrorists can never use Afghanistan to launch attacks against the U.S. or its allies," said Obama administration adviser John Podesta.