From Nathan Hurst, the Detroit News:  The July 2011 deadline for beginning to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan has helped stabilize the war-torn nation’s security, Sen. Carl Levin said Tuesday.

"The Afghans must be in charge … with their own troops," Levin, D-Detroit, said during a Tuesday breakfast in Washington sponsored by the Boston-based Christian Science Monitor newspaper. With an announced deadline, he said, Afghan military and security leaders have had an easier time recruiting members, since Afghan leaders have an incentive to beef up their ranks while placating civilian concerns that there was no end in sight to the U.S. presence.

But, Levin noted, "It’s not an exit."

Image: getty%207%2014%2010%20Senator%20Carl%20Levin.jpg