Obama calls for return of 30,000 troops, ‘nation-building at home’

A total of 10,000 troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of this year, and more than 20,000 additional forces will leave by the summer of 2012, President Barack Obama announced Wednesday night.

Should the U.S. Negotiate with the Taliban?

Editor’s Note: Stephen Biddle is the Robert Hertog senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also the award-winning author of Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle. The following is a transcript of our discussion.

NATO Welcomes Obama’s Afghan Plan

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says President Barack Obama’s announcement that he will start to pull troops from Afghanistan is the “natural result,” highlighting the progress the alliance has made there.

The GI Bill Turns 67

Over the 67 years since the signing of the original GI Bill, the program has gone through major changes. None as big as the changes created by the bill’s newest manifestation, the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Benefit payments under the new bill went to more than 290,000 Veterans in the first year.

Gates Unlikely to Certify DADT End Before Exit

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is unlikely to certify repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” before leaving office next week, senior defense and military officials said.

PAS11: Is V-22 the next big U.S. export prospect?
PARIS — Foreign militaries are in preliminary talks with DoD and its contractors over the possibility of buying the V-22 Osprey, defense and industry officials here said Wednesday. Although it’s still so early in the discussions that neither the V-22’s program manager nor a top official with Boeing would go into much detail, their hints at new international customers could mean the American tilt-rotor may begin serving in ever larger numbers around the world.

U.S. military says it has yet to find evidence of Agent Orange contamination at South Korea base

SEOUL — Environmental reports released Thursday by the U.S. military show hazardous chemicals that were stored at Camp Carroll since at least the early 1960s were often haphazardly stored and disposed of, but the U.S. military says it has yet to find any evidence of Agent Orange contamination at the base.

Debate: Did Obama Overstep His Authority In Libya?

The White House says it is confident President Obama has followed the law when it comes to U.S. involvement in Libya. But members of Congress and legal scholars aren’t so sure. They’re debating whether the president exceeded his authority by not getting approval from Congress.

Officials: Petraeus to hand off Afghan command sooner than expected

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon wants Gen. David Petraeus out of Afghanistan by mid-July, much sooner than the original September target date for his change of command, giving the general time for a break before he takes over as CIA director.

Afghanistan says its army ready for US drawdown

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s NATO-trained military is ready to take responsibility for fighting Taliban insurgents and securing key parts of the country that will be the first to transition as the U.S. begins a troop drawdown in July, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

In Congress, A Bipartisan Push For Afghan Drawdown

Growing numbers of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are balking both at the length of the war in Afghanistan and its cost.

Pentagon Gets Cyberwar Guidelines

President Barack Obama has signed executive orders that lay out how far military commanders around the globe can go in using cyberattacks and other computer-based operations against enemies and as part of routine espionage in other countries.

Senate Confirms Panetta as Pentagon Chief

The US Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Leon Panetta as the next defense secretary, setting him up to take charge of the Pentagon on July 1 as the US starts to wind down in Afghanistan.

Court to Emphasize Rehab, Counseling for Vets

EDINBURG, Texas — As Rio Grande Valley soldiers return from Middle East deployments, Hidalgo County’s new veterans court will offer mental health and substance abuse treatment for those involved in brushes with the law.