Gates Says U.S. Is in Position to Start Afghan Pullout.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that the United States was ''well positioned'' to begin withdrawing some American troops from Afghanistan in July, but he said that a substantial force would remain and that the United States was starting talks with the Afghans about keeping a security presence in the country beyond 2014. At a joint news conference in the Afghan capital with President Hamid Karzai, Mr. Gates said that no decisions had been made about the number of troops to go home. His remarks were tempered with enough caveats, however, to suggest that the July drawdown promised by President Obama could be minor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]