Karzai says he'll meet with Obama in Washington

At a news conference with visiting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Karzai said he and Obama will discuss how many U.S. troops will remain after the Western combat mission ends in December 2014. He said he understands that immunity from Afghan laws for those remaining Americans is of "immense importance" to Washington, but he added that he has his own priorities in negotiating a postwar U.S. role.

"Give us a good army, a good air force and a capability to project Afghan interests in the region," Karzai said, and he would be ready to argue "with ease and with reason" that his country should grant immunity to U.S. troops.

Obama has said the U.S. will not abandon Afghanistan and risk that it might revert to the al-Qaida haven it became in the 1990s after the Taliban came to power. Nor has he indicated what size and scope of post-2104 military mission he thinks is necessary and affordable.

The Taliban are a small but resilient force, even after 11 years of fighting a vastly larger U.S.-led international force. They managed to send a dramatic reminder Thursday, claiming credit for the suicide bombing that killed three and wounded 17 near an entrance to Kandahar Air Field, the largest Western base in southern Afghanistan. Panetta and his traveling party had left the air field about two hours before the attack.

The U.S. military did not identify the American who was killed. It said an investigation was under way.

Panetta was at the air field for about three hours, receiving a briefing from U.S. commanders. Panetta also spoke to about 350 U.S. troops and took questions from them before flying back to Kabul, where he met with Karzai at the presidential palace.

Panetta described the Kandahar attack as further evidence of insurgent brutality.

"This is what they resort to in order to try to continue to stimulate chaos in this country," he said. "They will not be successful."

The Karzai-Obama meeting, which Panetta said would occur during the week of Jan. 7, with no specific date set, also is intended to discuss prospects for establishing a process for pursuing peace with the Taliban.