Afghan and US flags are raised as a policeman keeps watch during a ceremony to hand over security control in the rugged mountains of the Panjshir valley on July 24, 2011. — Photo by AFP

KABUL: The new US ambassador to Afghanistan said the United States was not rushing to leave the country and cautioned that what happens in the months ahead will have far-reaching consequences across the globe.

Ryan Crocker, the new top US diplomat in Afghanistan, was sworn in Monday at the US Embassy in Kabul.

Crocker said the US left Afghanistan the wrong way in the early 1990s, which resulted in a civil war, the rise of the Taliban, al-Qaeda using Afghanistan as a sanctuary and the September 11 attacks.

He also said the US had no interest in permanent bases in Afghanistan. And he said he was confident that even after combat troops leave in 2014, the US will be able to help prevent the Taliban from ever returning to power.