Admiral Mullen welcomed the statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week that he wants his forces to be able to take responsibility for security in the country by 2014.

VOA: standard.2010.07.22

and coalition forces to the Afghans. Announcing an increase of 30,000 U.S. troops last week, U.S.President Barack Obama said they will begin to hand over security responsibility to Afghan forces by July of 2011, but he did not say how long the transition will take.

VOA: standard.2009.12.09

But the information the Russians reportedly provided was incorrect, and it may actually have helped U.S. forces take the Iraqis by surprise.

NPR: Report: Saddam Doubted War Would Come

The U.S. military has tried to take action to prevent attacks by Afghan forces, appointing monitors to provide security for troops working with Afghans, boosting its counterintelligence infrastructure in Afghanistan, adopting an eight-step vetting process for Afghan recruits and revising the training they receive.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

On Wednesday, Mr Hollande said that the "final phase" of the French intervention "will last through March and from April there will be a decrease in the number of French soldiers in Mali as African forces will take over, supported by the Europeans".

BBC: Mali crisis: French soldiers to be withdrawn in April