and brian katulis, a senior fellow where he analyzes u.s. foreign policy in the middle east and south asia. seth jones, what struck you the most about those remarks? >> well, i think it's very clear that the president is committed to pulling u.s. forces out of afghanistan especially combat forces. and his comment that the pace will be consistent and the forces will leave i think gives everybody a sense that he is committed to withdrawing the vast majority of the american forces from afghanistan. i think the trend is very clear. >> ifill: brian katulis, he laid out a lot of ideas for how the u.s. and the afghan forces will collaborate in the next year or two. are they achievable? >> i think they are. i think this speech was trying to strike the right balance between transition and ending this phase of the war. and offering enduring support. i think some of the most difficult challenges will come actually in the political and diplomatic sphere. he talked about peace with the taliban. he talked about the need to build enduring afghan institutio

and brian katulis, a senior fellow at the center for american progress, where he analyzes u.s.foreign policy in the middle east and south asia. seth jones, does this... what you know of this agreement, does it represent a step forward in our relationship with afghanistan? >> well i think what it does do is it ensures that the united states does not make the mistake that it made in... at the end of the soviet wars, and that is completely leave. but what it doesn't do is we have no indication of what the u.s. military footprint will be, how much aid it's going to continue to give, and what the very specifics of the u.s. relationship with afghanistan will be like after 2014. none of that is in this agreement. >> ifill: does this mean that this agreement, brian katulis, this agreement is about what's not going to happen as opposed to what is going to happen? >> i actually think this is a very important agreement in sending a message, reassuring the afghans of enduring support at a time of transition. the u.s. is bringing its troops home. we have a plan to get down to 68,000 troops