Afghan-US tensions imperil transition to exit: "As the United States starts exiting the Afghan war, analysts warn that dysfunction in Kabul and its naked hostility towards the White House jeopardise the US goal of handing over security in 2014.
The transition to Afghan control is a delicate operation that looks imperilled by the dismal relationship between President Hamid Karzai and Washington, battered and bruised by 10 years of mutual disappointment.
Karzai has increasingly indulged in anti-US tirades, aimed at Afghans weary of another decade of war after Taliban rule, civil war and anti-Soviet jihad, venting anger that US troops do too little to limit civilian casualties.
But the state of the relationship is more critical than ever, with President Barack Obama now counting down to the full withdrawal of US combat troops and the handover to Afghanistan of lead responsibility for fighting the Taliban.
After a decade of limited success, there are just three years left to build up Afghan security forces and ensure that Afghans deliver state services across the board when foreign combat forces are due to leave at the end of 2014.
The Afghan forces will have a big hole to fill."
