At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday, chairman to-be Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) continued to demand that the Administration start laying down a troop withdrawal plan. Facing him was US Central Command chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid, who wants to hold out for more “flexibility.” Abizaid would not be drawn into revealing whether CENTCOM advocates sending more US forces to Iraq or beginning a withdrawal, saying he had yet to provide his recommendations to the Administration, which reportedly has asked for DOD, State, and other parties to provide reports on the Iraq situation next month. Levin, in his opening remarks, said: “We were assured by the President over a year ago that ‘as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.’” Even though the Pentagon claims that almost 90 percent of the Iraqi Security Forces are now trained and equipped, our troop level remains about the same.”
The Pentagon announced its latest drawdown package for Ukraine, valued at $1 billion and mainly comprising of munitions for key systems. But any decision on whether to provide the Ukrainian Air Force with Western combat jets is still to be made, a key Defense Department official told reporters—and it could…