Afghanistan and the United States will establish a long-term military partnership and officials have already begun working out the details, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday. "We do need a long-term, strong and strategic partnership with the United States," presidential spokesman Jawed Ludin said at a news conference. "The question of what form that will take is being worked on but it will, we believe, span over a broad range of spheres including the economy, including politics, including military," Ludin said. The spokesman said Karzai's government was optimistic it can reach an agreement with officials in Washington. "They also understand that Afghanistan's situation, Afghanistan's location in this region and the strategic importance that the U.S. presence has here will continue to be there for some time," Ludin said.
