FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2012, file photo, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai arrive for their joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. U.S. commanders are offering glowing reviews of their 2012 Afghanistan war campaign. And the upbeat assessments that could be interpreted as leeway for President Barack Obama to order another round of troop withdrawals next summer.  Panetta has not yet recommended to Obama a specific pace of withdrawals for 2013. But during the Pentagon chief's two-day visit to the war zone last week, commanders suggested that things are going better than is generally believed by an American public weary of war after 11 years. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
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