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die in combat.
• The many partners in the fighting coalition will gather Monday in Obama's hometown to reassert their commitment to ending the war in 2014 and solidify another milestone for next year, when Afghan forces take the lead in combat missions while NATO assumes a supporting role.
• So far in the two-day NATO conference, the leaders have voiced hope that a decade of war in Afghanistan will give way to a decade of transition to peace and stability, aided by the U.S. and its allies.
• But hard realities intrude.
• Some NATO countries, most recently France, have sought to end their combat commitments early. The Taliban and its allies have warned that they are waiting to

fill the void in Afghanistan after NATO leaves. And with alliance forces -- the bulk of which are American -- still committed to many more months of fighting, the sacrifices are far from over.
• ___

• JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- It was a label they sought both to embrace and avoid, a refrain overheard in whispers or

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