Pentagon urges Afghanistan to sign agreement on US military presence --- Karzai yet to sign deal to keep US troops in country after 2014 -- As the war in Afghanistan becomes the most unpopular conflict in US polling history, the Pentagon reiterated a plea for the Afghan government to entrench an enduring American military presence. -- Afghan president Hamid Karzai has so far declined to sign an accord called the Bilateral Security Agreement, upending plans for some US troops to stay in the country after the war formally ends in December 2014. The US has unsuccessfully urged other Afghan government officials to bless a long-term presence that has already stretched into its 13th year. -- "We urge the government of Afghanistan to sign the agreement promptly. If we cannot conclude a BSA promptly, we will be forced to initiate planning for a post-2014 future that does not have a US troop presence there.” - More, Gaurdian, at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/30/pentagon-afghanistan-agreement-us-troops