Dempsey: Negotiations over on Afghan deal --- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey said negotiations on the U.S.-Afghan security agreement are over, and the pact will not be changed. -- Dempsey said in Afghanistan late Tuesday that while he is not yet planning a “zero option” for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops, the prospect was an “unfortunate possibility” if the deal is not signed, according to The Associated Press. -- He warned that a withdrawal of U.S. and international troops at the end of 2014 would reverse the gains made against the Taliban. -- U.S. officials have demanded Karzai sign the security pact by the end of the year, threatening to withdrawal all U.S. forces if he does not do so. -- The agreement would pave the way for U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan through as long as 2024 to help train Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism missions. -- In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, Karzai accused the United States of acting like a colonial power and making threats. - Dempsey disagreed with the assessment. -- "It's not a threat,” he said. “I just simply think that in any negotiation you reach a point when you've made the requirements known. And militarily, by the way, those requirements are actually quite clear." - More, Thehill