The commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan just told Congress that the U.S. will continue to have a "significant combat presence" in Afghanistan in 2013.

One of the declarations from last year's NATO summit in Lisbon was that the Afghan Security Forces would take the lead for security in 2013. But, during a tense exchange with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Gen. John Allen declared that the U.S. will still need many of the post-surge combat troops to remain in the fight.

McCain asked Allen whether he has any opinion right now as to what the U.S. presence will be in 2013.

"My opinion is that we will need significant combat power in 2013," Allen responded.

McCain asked if "significant" meant 68,000 troops (the number that will be left after the surge troops re-deploy at the end of summer 2012).

"68,000 is a good going-in number, but I owe the president some analysis on that," Allen replied.

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX -- Former businessman turned presidential frontrunner Herman Cain continued his attempts to calm voters concerns over his lack of foreign policy experience during a campaign stop here Wednesday night.

“Relative to foreign policy, I don’t need to know the details of every one of the issues we face.

"We’ve got plenty of experts who can fill in the details,” Cain said at dinner held by the Nueces County Republican Women.

The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO told the 900 supporters in attendance that the key to dealing with issues abroad is to develop a clear foreign-policy philosophy, a line he often has repeated on the trail.

That philosophy: clarify who the United States'- friends and enemies are – something Cain says President Obama has failed to do.

During his two-day swing through the Lone Star State, Cain began both campaign speeches critiquing the president’s decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq by the end of the year.

“When he withdraws all of the troops out of Iraq, it’s going to leave a huge power vacuum for Iran to go in and disrupt everything and undue everything that we’ve been trying to help them do on the last several years,” Cain said while speaking at the Clear Lake Tea Party in La Marque, TX on Tuesday.

The shift is subtle contrast from Cain’s most recent campaign stops, where has started with a defense of his 9-9-9 economic strategy. 
Though Cain still spent time defending what has become known as the lynchpin of campaign, it has taken a back seat in his most recent stops.

The focus on the Middle East coincides with the president’s foreign policy victories of the president with former Libyan leader Moammar Khaddafy's death and his fulfillment of a campaign promise to bring an end to the Iraq war.

Broadening Cain’s policy platform comes at a time when the candidate is fighting speculation that he is the latest flash in the pan in the Republican field. A national CBS/New York Times poll released Tuesday shows Cain atop the field of Republican presidential hopefuls, garnering 25% of support, with the second closest Mitt Romney at 21%.

A White House official tells NBC News that President Obama this afternoon will make a statement about the U.S. security relationship with Iraq. Obama's remarks will follow a video conference with Iraq PM Maliki.

ABC is reporting that Obama will announce the complete drawdown of all U.S. troops there by the end of the year.

But NBC has yet to confirm that news.

*** UPDATE *** NBC can confirm that Obama will announce the complete of the Iraq drawdown by the end of 2011.

*** UPDATE II *** NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube further report:

A senior U.S. military official says that the president will announce that ALL U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of 2011. Some will remain there to secure the Embassy, etc. but that will be a small group (about 100 or so).

The U.S. and Iraq cannot reach an agreement on immunity for U.S. troops serving after Dec 31.

There are about 39,000 U.S. troops in Iraq now.

At the height of the U.S. surge in October 2007, there were more than 166,000 U.S. troops there.

*** UPDATE III *** Per a White House official: "Today, the president will announce that we will fulfill our commitment and complete the drawdown of US troops from Iraq by the end of the year. This will allow us to say definitively that the Iraq war is over, and that the partnership between the US and Iraq will be a normal one between two sovereign nations. During their conversation, President Obama and PM Maliki strongly agreed that this is the best way forward for both countries."

“For President Obama, the image of a bloodied Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi offers vindication, however harrowing, of his intervention in Libya, where a reluctant commander in chief put strict limits on American military engagement and let NATO allies take the lead in backing the rebels,” the New York Times says in an analysis. “Mr. Obama’s carefully calibrated response infuriated critics on the right and left, who blamed him either for ceding American leadership in a foreign conflict or for blundering into another Arab land without an exit strategy. But with Colonel Qaddafi joining the lengthening list of tyrants and terrorists dispatched during the Obama presidency, even critics conceded a success for Mr. Obama’s approach to war — one that relies on collective, rather than unilateral, action; on surgical strikes rather than massive troop deployments.”

U.S. officials tell NBC News that two Iranians -- one an Iranian American -- have been indicted on charges that they plotted to kill a Saudi diplomat, Ambassador Adel al Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

The indictment alleges that defendants "would use a weapon of mass destruction" against the ambassador, a senior law enforcement official adds.

The indictment is the result of a sting operation conducted by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The lead suspect, an Iranian-American, approached a DEA informant in May asking for help from the Zetas drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, according to senior law enforcement officials. The Iranian-American believed the DEA informant worked for the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico.

The DEA then brought in the FBI, which set up the sting in detail.   

The White House issued this statement: "The president was first briefed on this issue in June and directed his administration to provide all necessary support to this investigation. The disruption of this plot is a significant achievement by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the president is enormously grateful for their exceptional work in this instance and countless others."

*** UPDATE *** And perhaps the most explosive part of this plot -- it's linked to elements inside the Iranian government. As a Justice Department press release says, "Two individuals have been charged in New York for their alleged participation in a plot directed by elements of the Iranian government to murder the Saudi Ambassador to the United States with explosives while the Ambassador was in the United States."

As mentioned earlier, Mitt Romney today delivered a foreign-policy/national-security speech that largely criticized President Obama.

"I will not surrender America’s role in the world," Romney said at the end of the speech. "This is very simple: If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president. You have that president today."

Yet the Obama re-election campaign countered with this observation: Romney never once identified defeating al Qaeda as a goal in his speech.

Indeed, the principles Romney laid out in his speech were:
-- conducting foreign policy "with clarity and resolve."
-- promoting open markets, freedom, and human rights
-- using America's power (both hard and soft) to influence world events
-- work with multinational organization but also lead them.

And the actions he said he would take:
-- increase military spending on the Navy and missile defense
-- order the regular presence of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and Eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran
-- promote economic opportunity in Latin America
-- order a full review of transitioning Afghanistan's security to its own people
-- and bolster alliances with Israel and Great Britain.

But none of the principles or actions involved al Qaeda. In fact, Romney never mentioned those words in his speech, although he did refer once to "Islamic fundamentalism" and another time to "Islamic Jihadists."

Said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt:

"Gov. Romney raised real questions about his capacity to lead this country and wage the fight against terrorism. He didn't outline a strategy to strengthen America's security and promote our interests and didn't even identify defeating al Qaeda as a goal. President Obama has degraded al Qaeda and dealt huge blows to its leadership, including eliminating Osama Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, promoted our security in Afghanistan while winding down our commitment in a responsible way and strengthened American leadership around the world. Governor Romney proves once again that he is willing to say anything, regardless of the facts, to get elected."

*** UPDATE *** Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul notes that Romney's white paper, which accompanies today's speech, contains this section about al Qaeda:

"Our mission in Afghanistan is to eliminate al Qaeda from the region and degrade the Taliban and other insurgent groups to the point where they are not existential threats to the Afghan government and do not destabilize Pakistan, with its stock of nuclear weapons. Our objective is to ensure that Afghanistan will never again become a launching pad for terror and to send a message to any other nation that would harbor terrorists with designs on the American homeland."

At the beginning of a speech to praise Adm. Mike Mullen as he stepped down as chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff -- and to welcome the new chair, Gen. Martin Dempsey -- President Obama addressed the death of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operative Anwar al-Awlaki.

“The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al Qaeda's most active operational affiliate,” Obama said.

As was reported earlier today, an American drone launched an airstrike in Yemen against an Al Qaeda convoy that included Awlaki. Multiple U.S. government sources and the government of Yemen confirmed that Awlaki was killed.

In his remarks, the president blamed Awlaki and AQAP not only for multiple attempts to kill Americans inside and outside of the United States, but also the deaths of many in Yemen.

“Awlaki and his organization have been directly responsible for the deaths of many Yemenis citizens. His hateful ideology and targeting of innocent civilians has been rejected by the vast majority of Muslims and people of all faiths,” he said. 

Obama reminded his audience, “Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula remains a dangerous, though weakened, terrorist organization. And going forward, we will remain vigilant against any threats to the United States or our allies or partners.” 

He continued, “Make no mistake: This is further proof that Al Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world.”

Mullen, in his last speech as chairman of the Joint Chiefs struck a lighter tone when alluding to the operation, “And to those of you who aren't the closest to us, well, maybe you should have stepped it up a notch. It doesn't hurt to have friends with access to drones.”

But Mullen backed up Obama's assessment of a weakened Al Qaeda network. “President Obama made it clear from the beginning that he valued military counsel and that protecting the American people was his top priority, and he's made good on both promises. Bin Laden is dead; Awlaki is dead; Al Qaeda is a much- diminished network.”

Awlaki is credited with being the mastermind behind the failed attempts to blow up an American passenger plane on Christmas day of 2009 and a vehicle in Times Square in 2010.

MANCHESTER NH -- Ron Paul aggressively criticized President Obama today for al-Awlaki's death.

"No I don't think that's a good way to deal with our problems," Paul said in a media avail after his remarks at the Politics + Eggs event here. "He was born here, Al-Awlaki was born here, he is an American citizen. He was never tried or charged for any crimes. No one knows if he killed anybody. We know he might have been associated with the underwear bomber. But if the American people accept this blindly and casually that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, I think it's sad.

"I think what would people ... have said about Timothy McVeigh? We didn't assassinate him, who certainly he had done it. Went and put through the courts then executed him. To start assassinating American citizens without charges, we should think very seriously about this."

Does he feel the same about Bin Laden? "

Not exactly. "Because he was involved in 9/11 and I voted for authority to go after those individuals responsible for 9/11," Paul said. "Al-Awlaki nobody ever suggested that he was participant in 9/11."

A day after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks and hours before tonight's Republican debate, GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul doubled down on his non-interventionist foreign policy, arguing that occupation is the reason for suicide terrorism.

"Though it is hard for many to believe, honest studies show that the real motivation behind the September 11 attacks and the vast majority of other instances of suicide terrorism is not that our enemies are bothered by our way of life. Neither is it our religion, or our wealth," he said in a statement posted on his congressional website.

"Rather, it is primarily occupation. If you were to imagine for a moment how you would feel if another country forcibly occupied the United States, had military bases and armed soldiers present in our hometowns, you might begin to understand why foreign occupation upsets people so much."

Paul added, "Yes, the attacks of 9/11 deserved a response. But the manner in which we responded has allowed radicals in the Muslim world to advance a very threatening narrative about us and our motivation in occupying their lands."

He concluded, "The truth is that ending these misguided wars and occupations will make us safer, more prosperous and more free."

President Obama has arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay respect to the U.S. soldiers who died when Taliban forces shot down a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan.

Per the pool report:

President Obama has arrived at Dover Air Force Base on an unannounced trip. He is here to pay respects to the American troops who were killed in the Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan over the weekend. 30 Americans died, many of them Navy SEALS, in the deadliest single incident for American forces since the Afghan war began a decade ago. The motorcade left the White House in secret at 11:34 AM. After a short drive with stops at traffic lights, we arrived at Fort McNair for a helo flight through muggy gray haze over the Chesapeake Bay and into Delaware.

In a statement he delivered at the White House, President Obama tried to downplay the credit downgrade by arguing that S&P's bombshell announcement says more about Washington's political dysfunction than its ability to pay its debts.

In his first public remarks since credit downgrade, Obama argued, "We didn't need a rating agency to tell us that the gridlock in Washington over the last several months has not been constructive, to say the least."

The president acknowledged the U.S. has a debt problem, but said those problems are "imminently solvable." On the heels of last week's deal to raise the debt-ceiling, he repeated his calls for a “balanced long-term approach” including additional spending cuts and tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans.

And he said he's hopeful this latest economic news will spur a sense of Congress to act. "Making these reforms," he argued "doesn't require any radical steps. What it does require is common sense and compromise."

Addressing jittery investors and market, Obama urged calm. "Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a AAA country," he said.

This past weekend also brought tragic news with the deaths of 30 Americans -- including 22 Navy SEALs -- killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Obama praised their bravery and all those serving in combat. "Day after day, night after night," he said, "they carry out missions like this in the face of enemy fire and grave danger."

He vowed the U.S. will "press on and we will succeed," but he asked Americans to pause and reflect on the sacrifices of troops of their families. 

"These men and women put their lives on the line for the values that bind us together as a nation," he said.