Afghanistan

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James Cunningham, U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, says during a news event at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, that the United States wants serious peace negotiations with the Taliban but that it has not yet been possible to get the process under way. (AP Photo/Patrick Quinn)

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** FILE ** Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 14, 2013. (Associated Press)

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All U.S. troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan in 2014. Whether any will remain to train local forces and conduct missions against al Qaeda remains a point of contention between the two countries' governments. (Associated Press)

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Villagers stand near the bodies of men killed in an explosion in Sayedabad, in Afghanistan's Wardak province, southwest of Kabul on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013. The explosion killed seven Afghan villagers as they tried to pull bodies of insurgents killed from the rubble of a village mosque after a night raid by NATO and Afghan troops in the country's east, officials said. Four insurgents and an Afghan soldier also were reported to have been killed. (AP Photo/Rahmatullah Nikzad)

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President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrive for their joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 11, 2013. (Associated Press)

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai takes questions from reporters during his joint news conference with President Obama in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 11, 2013. (Associated Press)

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Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta (right) motions Afghan President Hamid Karzai to the viewing stand during a full-honors arrival ceremony Thursday on the River Parade Field at the Pentagon. (Associated Press)

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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai (center) and his Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul (left) meet Wednesday with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, ahead of Mr. Karzai’s talks with President Obama on Friday. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Afghan security forces investigate the scene after two suicide attacks in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 6, 2013. Two suicide bombers penetrated a government compound in the country's south, killing several, Afghan officials said. There were no reports of foreign troops or civilians at the site. (Associated Press)