WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today he was awaiting plans from Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, to bring home the remaining 23,000 troops sent to Afghanistan during the 2009 surge.
Panetta, speaking to reporters on the plane traveling to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, said that despite recent setbacks, including the burning of Qurans by U.S. soldiers and the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. soldier, the drawdown was on schedule to finish by 2014.
“What I am awaiting are General Allen’s plans with regards to taking down the remaining 23,000 from the surge,” Panetta said. “And, we’ll review those plans.”
Pentagon spokesman George Little said the analysis on drawdown scenarios isn’t yet complete.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.