By Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 25, 2014

If the Obama administration follows through with threats for a “zero option” in Afghanistan, meaning no US troops would be left on the ground after 2014, the move could usher in civil war, a senior Pakistani official warned Tuesday.

The departure of US forces would likely create “mayhem” in the country, which could ultimately prompt one-third of Afghan security forces to desert their posts in the Army and police, the official said in remarks at the Center for Media and Security in Washington, D.C. “The zero option means a civil war in Afghanistan,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity [....]

Also see:

Trust Eroded, Obama Looks Beyond Karzai
By Mark Landler and Helene Cooper, New York Times, Feb. 25/26, 2013

WASHINGTON — President Obama, apparently resigned to President Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a long-term security agreement with the United States before he leaves office, told him in a phone call on Tuesday that he had instructed the Pentagon to begin planning for a complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

But in a message aimed less at Mr. Karzai than at whoever will replace him, Mr. Obama said that the United States was still open to leaving a limited military force behind in Afghanistan to conduct training and counterterrorism operations [....]

And:

Pakistan Outlines New Internal Security Policy
By Sharon Behn, VOA News, Feb. 26, 2014

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s interior minister presented the government’s new internal security strategy on Wednesday, calling for a national consensus on tackling the lethal Taliban insurgency. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told lawmakers Wednesday the government’s policy was intended to end the growing terrorism threat in Pakistan. He said, "if any terrorist action happens anywhere in Pakistan, we will retaliate on the militant headquarters, against those who planned it or carried it out, as we have done in the past week."

The interior minister’s speech Wednesday came after attempts at peace talks with the Taliban collapsed in the face of repeated militant attacks against Pakistan’s security forces [....]