There are real concerns over the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan as there is no guarantee that the Afghan security forces can stand against the insurgents on their own after 2014. Amid that, NATO member countries are coming up with plans to withdraw their forces before the deadline they had actually agreed upon in Lisbon conference in 2010.

Many believe it is an illustration of lack of coordination and contradiction of views on Afghan war within the NATO countries. Already, the plan of withdrawal of international forces has bolstered insurgents morally, intentions of certain countries to pull out their force before the agreed deadline would further make Taliban hopeful of victory.

On Tuesday April 17, Australian Prime Mister, Jullia Gillard unveiled withdrawal plan of Australian troops from Afghanistan. According the plan all the Australian troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2013 – a year before NATO countries' commitment in Lisbon conference. "This is a war with a purpose.

This is a war with an end," Gillard said in a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. Gillard said she expects Afghan President Hamid Karzai to announce in the next few months the transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces in Uruzgan and other provinces. Once that process starts, it will take 12 to 18 months to complete. Based on that timeframe, most of Australia's troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2013.

Need to mention that in January, French government had also made it public that it would pull out its forces from Afghanistan by the end of next year. Previously, there had been reports of miscommunication and lack of coordination among the US led NATO allies in Afghanistan.

The beneficiary of this pitfall has been the Taliban. The decision of Australia and France to pull out its forces a year before its commitment questions the integrity of NATO member countries over the Afghan war. It seems like every country is trying to find ways of quickly withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan. This puts the ten years Western achievements in Afghanistan at stake. At the same time, this makes the worries about the developments Afghanistan has had after 2001 multiply.