THE EDITORIAL BOARD: Frustration With Afghanistan --- President Obama and NATO last week threatened to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by year’s end, given President Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a bilateral security agreement with the United States. -- Their frustration with Mr. Karzai is understandable. But the truth is, the whole exercise is theatrical. Neither the administration nor NATO wants to leave completely, and many neighboring countries want them to stay. So do many Afghans. -- In a telephone call last Tuesday, Mr. Obama told Mr. Karzai that he had directed the Pentagon to plan for a complete withdrawal of American forces by the end of December. On Thursday, NATO defense ministers delivered a similar message. But Mr. Obama also made it clear that he is still open to leaving a limited force behind to conduct training and counterterrorism operations. --- After repeated exhortations on the urgent need to complete an agreement, the new warnings were an acknowledgment of the obvious: that no deal will be signed until after Mr. Karzai leaves office. As he told The Washington Post on Saturday, Mr. Karzai no longer sees the war as Afghanistan’s war and considers Al Qaeda “more a myth than a reality.” He said he cannot sign the security agreement “without the launch of the peace process” between the government and the Taliban, which shows no likelihood of happening soon. -- The presidential election in April is expected to require two rounds of voting and months of political jockeying before a victor emerges. It would have been simpler if Mr. Karzai signed the agreement when it was approved by a grand assembly of Afghan elders in November. Despite considerable effort, the Americans failed to persuade him, but they may have more success with the men aiming to succeed him. All have signaled that they would sign the accord. -- In the meantime, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Associated Press that the possibility of the allies leaving is weakening the resolve of the Afghan forces and encouraging the Taliban to be more aggressive. Mr. Obama has added to the uncertainty by declining to settle on the size of a residual force and its mission. A force of 3,000 to 10,000 troops is under discussion, although Mr. Obama has now stressed that zero is also in the mix. -- It is tempting to just be done with Afghanistan after 13 years of war. On the other hand, even after all America has invested there in lives lost and dollars spent, there are concerns about Afghanistan’s future if all troops are withdrawn. -- These concerns include the possibility that the country would again become a haven for terrorists. And that, ultimately, would make it hard, politically and strategically, for this nation’s leaders to simply walk away. - More, NYTimes, at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/opinion/frustration-with-afghanistan.html?hpw&rref=opinion