Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking?  Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/iavapressroom. THE DAILY NEWS BRIEF 1) Timetable Becomes Focus of Afghan Surge Debate   Days after President Obama explained his plans to send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, his stated intention to begin getting them out as early as July 2011 has became the focus of discussions among leaders around the world.  In Washington, many Republicans have been quick to forcefully state that it didn't make sense to add so many troops only to begin withdrawing them a year later. For their part, many Democrats are unhappy with the continued emphasis that the withdrawal would be dependent on conditions on the ground, which they worried would mean troops could stay in Afghanistan indefinitely. On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates indicated he was initially against setting a date for withdrawal and was only convinced once he was assured nothing would be set in stone.  Withdrawal concerns come as as hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan troops descended Thursday morning on the city of Now Zad in southern Afghanistan with the goal to cut off Taliban supply routes.  2) Afghan Surge Could Involve As Many As 35,000 Troops   Military officials revealed Wednesday that the final number of additional troops who will be sent to Afghanistan could be thousands more than the 30,000 President Obama talked about in his speech Tuesday night. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has received permission from the President to send an additional 3,000 troops without approval from the White House if he feels they are needed. According to the Washington Post, the total number could be as high as 35,000 once support personnel are counted.  Meanwhile, NATO leaders announced they would support the escalation of U.S. troops in Afghanistan with seven thousand additional troops, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urges American allies to specify their commitments. 3) Four months in, GI Bill still plagued by delays Twenty-six thousand veterans now in college still have not received their living stipends and book allowances under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, a big sign of continuing problems in the program that may lead some students to drop out. "The next semester is just a month away," said Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., chairwoman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee's economic opportunity panel, which held a Thursday roundtable discussion on how to fix the new benefits program. Launched Aug. 1 with great fanfare and high expectations, the new education benefits program has been tarnished by delays that occurred when it became clear the Veterans Affairs Department wasn't ready to pay the living stipends many student-veterans need so they can afford to go to school full-time.  For the latest on Post-9/11 GI Bill updates, visit www.NewGIBill.org.   AFGHANISTAN Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday he's willing to talk with the Taliban chief in a bid to bring peace to the country if the move has the backing of the United States and other international partners. Karzai had previously offered to talk with Taliban leader Mullah Omar, but the Bush administration opposed such contacts. The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan reassured top officials on Thursday that Washington was not planning an early exit, part of an offensive to sell President Barack Obama's new strategy on three continents. The top U.S. commander, General Stanley McChrystal, met 12 Afghan cabinet ministers and deputy ministers before appearing before lawmakers in the Afghan parliament. The focus of President Obama's new strategy is "to provide an opportunity for the Afghan people to build enough capacity to provide security themselves," he told parliamentarians. The Pakistani prime minister, countering demands to intensify the hunt for Osama bin Laden, said Thursday that he did not believe the fugitive leader of Al Qaeda was in Pakistan, as many Western governments and intelligence agencies assert. The Pakistani official, Yousaf Raza Gilani, spoke at joint news conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain just days after Brown demanded that Afghanistan and Pakistan match plans for increased allied troop levels in Afghanistan by taking tough actions of their own, including a stepped-up effort in Pakistan to capture bin Laden. IRAQ Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber has killed at least five people in Saddam Hussein's hometown, including the chief of riot police. A police official says the blast Thursday in Tikrit killed Lt. Col. Ahmed al-Fahal, two of his bodyguards and two civilians. The official says the bomber targeted al-Fahal, who had been touring central Tikrit. MILITARY AFFAIRS A Fort Drum soldier was arrested at a hotel in southern Ohio early Wednesday on a warrant charging him in the stabbing deaths of two fellow servicemen at an apartment near the military post in northern New York. The bodies of Waide James, 20, and Diego Valbuena, 23, each with multiple stab wounds, were found Tuesday morning in an apartment complex housing mostly military families. Fort Hood-based Army combat units may be designated to join President Barack Obama's 30,000-strong troop surge to Afghanistan within a matter of days, with hurry-up deployments early next year, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday. Marine Maj. Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the office of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, said units based at Fort Hood and other stateside Army posts and Marine Corps bases will be publicly designated to join the troop surge by Monday. In an effort to boost cooperation between troops carrying out missions alongside each other in war zones, U.S. military officials are looking to permanently station foreign troops at U.S. training areas in Germany.  While foreign troops already conduct some training at U.S. bases in Hohenfels and Grafenwöhr, this would be the first time a significant number of those troops would be permanently stationed there. U.S. Marines heading to Afghanistan as part of the latest surge will keep track of friendly troops, enemy attacks and civilian infrastructure using Command Posts of the Future.  The U.S. military traditionally used separate software programs to plan artillery strikes, track aviation, document enemy actions, or map lines of attack. "Command Post of the Future" combines all of those systems into a single view - and makes it shareable across the military network. INSIDE WASHINGTON The House Veterans' Affairs Committee is calling for a full investigation of how the Veterans Affairs Department allocates funds to various regions and projects in the face of complaints that, in an era of continually growing VA budgets, there still doesn't seem to be enough money to go around. The committee wants a review by the Government Accountability Office out of concern that the formula for allocating money to local medical facilities is a confusing mess, resulting in widely varying services and waiting times. A group of lawmakers wants to give gay servicemembers the ability to testify before Congress without fearing they'll be discharged under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. A bill that would grant immunity from the policy was introduced in the House on Wednesday. It would prohibit retaliatory personnel actions against those who reveal their sexual orientations during congressional hearings. Congress is expected to consider next year repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military. A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles. These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA.

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