The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday
rejected an amendment which calls for accelerated withdrawal of
American troops from Afghanistan.
In a close 204-215 vote, the House rejected the amendment that would
have required the Pentagon to develop a plan for an " accelerated
transition of military operations to Afghan authorities."
The measure was an amendment to the 690-billion-dollar National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and was sponsored by a group of
bipartisan lawmakers.
The Obama administration planned to start withdrawing troops from
Afghanistan in July, with the goal of handing lead security
responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.
The administration said earlier this year that it plans to start
withdrawing only 5,000 of the 100,000 troops in Afghanistan by this
summer, far less than many had hoped. Xinhua
