LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s president got reassurance Tuesday that NATO intends to backstop his troubled nation’s security long beyond 2014, after NATO’s chief endorsed keeping Afghanistan’s security forces at the current strength for years to come.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told The Associated Press that keeping the Afghan force larger for longer is more cost effective, and it would be more acceptable to Afghans than foreign soldiers.

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