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US and NATO troops in Afghanistan will be 鈥渟hifting to a support role in 2013, in advance of Afghans taking full responsibility鈥� for the country鈥檚 security in 2014, President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain announced Wednesday in the Rose Garden.

Some argue that such a move 鈥� US defense officials say ideally by the middle of 2013 鈥� is long overdue. But is there any indication that Afghan troops are ready and able to handle security throughout the country come next year?

Although US forces have been at war in the country for a decade, training Afghan troops has been a notoriously slow-going process, as US military commanders routinely acknowledge.

Today, the training effort is at the heart of the Pentagon鈥檚 strategy on the ground. Get Afghan soldiers and police ready to defend their country, so that US troops can leave, the reasoning goes.

In the past 18 months, the uniformed ranks of the Afghan national security forces have doubled to some 300,000. Yet, according to a January assessment by the Director of National intelligence (DNI), these troops rely on US and NATO forces in order to operate. 鈥淚n terms of security, we judge that the Afghan police and Army will continue to depend on ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] support.鈥�

What鈥檚 more, sheer size does not necessarily equal quality. 鈥淲ill they be at the standard that we have for our soldiers?鈥� asked Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the ISAF Joint Command, at a Pentagon press briefing in February. 鈥淣o. Not, at least, the conventional force.鈥�

While many might argue that few soldiers in the world are up to the standards of US troops, the problem is how few Afghan soldiers 鈥� even after years of US training 鈥� can currently operate independently of their NATO military mentors.

Indeed, those figures remain 鈥渧ery low,鈥� Scaparrotti conceded in his briefing. In total, the number of Afghan kandaks, or Army battalions, that can currently operate 鈥渋ndependent with advisers鈥� is 29.聽

That represents approximately one percent of the total Afghan security force ranks, Scaparrotti noted.

In the US military鈥檚 next assessment ranking, 鈥渆ffective with advisers,鈥� the news is a bit brighter. Some 42 percent of Afghan units may plan and execute missions, but they also rely on the air, fire, and logistical support of US troops to do it.聽

Afghan troops are 鈥渋n the lead鈥� for just under a third of the missions they conduct, meaning that they rely on US forces as 鈥渆nablers,鈥� providing vital equipment and advice.

鈥淲e do have a number of forces now that are stepping out into the lead, choosing to do their own planning, informing our forces, and going out. So it鈥檚 building,鈥� Scaparrotti said. 鈥淏ut I would say it鈥檚 [in its] early stages, to be frank with you.鈥�

At a certain point, though, it鈥檚 clear that US troops will have to simply remove the 鈥渢raining wheels,鈥� say senior US defense officials.聽

鈥淭he Afghans, if they see Americans moving forward, may have a tendency to step back,鈥� Michael Sheehan, assistant secretary of Defense for Special Operations, said at a Washington conference in February. 鈥淚n my view that鈥檚 got to be the most important aspect of the transition 鈥� having US forces take a step back and the Afghan security forces take a step forward.鈥澛�

And with 23,000 US troops set to leave Afghanistan between now and the end of September, it鈥檚 clear that NATO trainers will have to step up the pace, say analysts.

Just how much they can do before Afghan troops are set to assume full responsibility for security in the country in 2014 remains to be seen, officials acknowledge.

For his part Mr. Cameron, Mr. Obama鈥檚 closest ally in the Afghanistan war, ventured a tentative, and notably measured, assessment in the Rose Garden.

鈥淒o I think we can get to a situation by the end of 2014 where we have a larger Afghan National Army, a larger Afghan police force, both of which are pretty much on track and ... capable of taking care of their own security in a way that doesn鈥檛 require large numbers of foreign troops?鈥� he asked. 鈥淵es, I think we can achieve that.鈥�