NATO summit kicks off in Chicago
Posted May 20, 2012 1:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NATO leaders are gathering for a two-day summit in Chicago.
Leaders discussed the Afghanistan mission, saying the fighting coalition will remain whole despite France’s plans to yank combat troops out early.
U-S President Barack Obama says the NATO alliance agrees on a vision for post-2014 Afghanistan and he’s pressing world leaders to implement the strategy.
Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met on the sidelines of the summit in Sunday to discuss the country’s post-war future.
In a joint appearance with Obama, Karzai offered thanks to the U-S.
Karzai says the transition will mean that Afghanistan is “no longer a burden” on the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, a diverse crowd of protesters has been streaming into a downtown Chicago park for one of the city’s largest demonstrations in years.
Peace activists are joining with war veterans and people more focused on the economy for the protest.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says most of the protests have been peaceful.
Demonstrators plan to march to the lakeside convention centre where world leaders are meeting to discuss the war in Afghanistan, European missile defence and other issues.
