Afghanistan going well, U.S. says

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KABUL, Afghanistan, April 25 (UPI) -- Plans to pull U.S. and international forces out of Afghanistan by 2014 are proceeding as planned, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

U.S. and Afghan officials last week finalized a draft security deal outlining the bilateral relationship after the 2014 drawdown.

The pact, which would need U.S. President Barack Obama's signature, pledges U.S. support for Afghanistan for 10 years after the U.S. troop withdrawal is completed in 2014.

Afghan forces are expected to take control over security operations as the deadline approaches. U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the self-esteem and pride among Afghan forces was increasing.

Dempsey told American Forces Press Service, the Pentagon's news service, that he was confident the drawdown plans were adequate.

"It's going well," he said.

The Afghanistan Analysts' Network, a think tank in Kabul, issued a report questioning how much Afghan forces were actually leading military operations in the country. The report, states Voice of America, implies that international forces are misleading the public with claims about Afghan-led operations in the country.