(a) Options for expansion of capacity of Afghan National Security Forces

The President shall, acting through the Secretary of Defense, establish and update as appropriate, and submit to Congress, options to accelerate the expansion of the capacity of Afghan National Security Forces with the goal of—

(1) enabling the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, consistent with the Framework for Inteqal, to assume lead responsibility for security in all areas of Afghanistan, to maintain security in those areas, and to sustain the Afghan National Security Forces;

(2) achieving United States national security objectives to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda and its extremist allies in Afghanistan, and preventing the establishment of safe havens for those entities; and

(3) enabling the United States to move to an enduring partnership with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, fully consistent with the Declaration by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on an Enduring Partnership as issued at the Lisbon conference on November 20, 2010.

(b) Benchmarks

Terms Used In 22 USC 7556

  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.

The President shall establish, and may update from time to time, a comprehensive set of benchmarks to evaluate progress being made toward meeting the goals set forth in paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a).

(c) Submittal to Congress

The President shall include the most current set of benchmarks established pursuant to subsection (b) with each report on progress toward security and stability in Afghanistan that is submitted to Congress under sections 1230 and 1231 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 385, 390).