Pentagon leadership said this week that Congress will have to wait upon the proposed war budget for operations in Afghanistan.
The White House surprised many by omitting it in their budget roll out on April 10. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said to expect the Overseas Contingency Operations budget proposal "with a revised level and account-level detail."
Military leaders are still deciding on U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan in 2014. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, said he'd make a recommendation on troop levels in the Spring and then another recommendation to President Obama in November after he could assess how the Afghan security forces could handle taking the lead this summer.
"My recommendation will be that we refine that range after the Afghans assume the lead this summer," he told the Armed Services Committee. "In the fall, we will both have a feel for the Afghan security forces after their first summer and we’ll also see what conditions are set for the political transition, more specifically the elections that will take place in April.”
Military.com reporter Brendan McGarry covered Wednesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in which Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey were witnesses. He has more here.
