And then there was this additional bad news early Saturday morning: 31 Americans -- including more than 20 Navy SEALs -- were killed when Taliban forces shot down their helicopter in Afghanistan.

A senior defense official says that the team was "on their way to a mission" when their helicopter was shot down in Wardak Province this morning. The official was not sure whether they had just taken off, or if they had already been in the air for several minutes when they went down though.

"It appears that it was shot down," the official said, adding that it is obviously still being investigated.

The official said that the military does "not have any indication that it was anything other than" hostile fire that brought down the helicopter.

The casualty breakdown:
31 Americans killed, including:
-- as many as 20 Navy SEALS
-- five Army air crew
-- several U.S. airmen
-- one dog

8 Afghans killed:
-- seven Afghan troops
- one Afghan interpreter (civilian)

The Associated Press reports that the SEALs were part of SEAL Team Six, the unit that carried out the raid killing Osama bin Laden, but the AP adds that none of those killed in the crash "is believed to have been part of the SEALs mission that killed bin Laden."

President Obama issued this statement on the tragedy in Afghanistan:

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the Americans who were lost earlier today in Afghanistan. Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan. We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied.  We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country. At this difficult hour, all Americans are united in support of our men and women in uniform who serve so that we can live in freedom and security.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship suffered another blow last week, when the State Department said its diplomats in Pakistan were unable to travel freely. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday that U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter was briefly detained at an airport.

Munter's detention is not an isolated incident. In the past month, sources say a very senior U.S. intelligence officer has also been stopped at an airport in Pakistan.

State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said today that U.S. personnel in Pakistan have to carry a certificate in order to travel. 

Ambassador Munter was asked for his certificate at Islamabad's airport while catching a plane to Karachi, according to Toner. Munter did not have the certificate with him, Toner said, but was allowed to board the plane. Toner also noted that his return trip to Islamabad was "without incident."

"The issue is the right for our diplomats -- according to the Vienna Conventions -- to travel freely within the country where they work," Toner told the press. "We have expressed our concerns with the Pakistanis... And we're working to resolve it."

Asked if the U.S. is considering reciprocal action against Pakistani diplomats in the United States, Toner would only say the State Department is working to resolve the issue. Speaking hypothetically, however, Toner said "reciprocity is always a consideration," but "in this case, we are working with the government of Pakistan."

These brush ups come after the May 2 U.S. mission that killed Osama Bin Laden. Pakistan was not notified of the operation beforehand. Relations between the two countries have soured since.

President Obama said the attacks today in Oslo, Norway are a reminder that the international community has a stake in cooperating to prevent acts of terror around the globe.

Alongside New Zealand Prime Minster John Key in the Oval Office, Mr. Obama said, "Our hearts go out" to the victims of the Norway attacks.

Norwegian authorities are investigating a possible link between an explosion near the country’s main government building and a shooting at an Oslo youth camp. At this hour, there are seven confirmed fatalities.

Obama said the U.S. still doesn't have all the facts about the attack, but explained: "We have to work cooperatively together both on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks."

And he pledged the U.S. would fully provide Norway efforts to investigate the tragedy.

Earlier, the president received an update on the attacks from John Brennan, his top counterterrorism adviser.

Prime Minister Key echoed the President's comments, saying "If it is an act of global terrorism, then I think what it shows is no country -- large or small -- is immune from that risk."

The two leaders were meeting in the Oval Office to discuss a range of bilateral economic and security issues.

Senior defense officials tell NBC News that the Pentagon will announce tomorrow that both Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and all of the Joint Chiefs have certified that the military is ready to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

Each member of the Joint Chiefs had to submit a recommendation to Secretary Panetta, indicating that they are far enough in their training to repeal DADT, and that it will not have an impact on military readiness.

The next step is for President Obama to certify the repeal, which then begins a 60-day waiting period to implement the repeal -- before "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is officially a thing of the past.

An Army Ranger, who today received the nation's highest military decoration at the White House, said "to be singled out is very humbling." But he added that he considers "every one of our men and women in uniform serving here or abroad to be our heroes."

After the ceremony, Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry asked the nation to "thank them, shake their hand, give them a pat on the back."

President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor to Petry for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" -- for his heroic actions that saved the lives of two fellow soldiers during a firefight on May 26, 2008 in Eastern Afghanistan.

A weapons squad leader from New Mexico on his seventh tour of duty since 9-11, Petry was part of an air assault team attacking a suspected al Qaeda's commander's hideout when the team came under attack by enemy fighters.

According to the Medal of Honor citation, SFC Petry was wounded in the firefight in both legs by automatic weapons fire, but still managed to lead another Ranger to cover. The situation escalated, as the enemy moved closer throwing grenades towards the team's position. When one grenade landed only a few feet away from Petry and two other U.S. soldiers, Petry "unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, deliberately and selflessly moved forward, picked up the grenade, and in an effort to clear the immediate threat, threw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers."

As he released the grenade it detonated, amputating his right hand at the wrist. Despite his wounds, Petry was able to place a tourniquet on himself and coordinated a medical evacuation for the team.

Obama, who last fall awarded the Medal of Honor to Army Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, the first living recipient since the Vietnam War, said Petry's actions "speaks to the spirit of America."

Petry, who today helps care for other wounded troops, chose to re-enlist and this past year deployed to Afghanistan for his eighth deployment. The president praised that sacrifice, saying: "This is the stuff of which heroes are made, this is the strength, the devotion that makes our troops the pride of every American."

"Leroy Petry showed that true heroes still exist and they're closer than you think," Obama said.

The story about Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich unauthorized diplomacy in Syria continues.

With the House not in session, Kucinich has been in Syria, where he was quoted by the state news agency saying kind words about President Bashar al-Assad, whose government has killed its own people. "President al-Assad is highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians," Kucinich said, per the news outlet.

Later, Kucinich said he was misquoted. But he received this blistering criticism from the Washington Post's editorial page:

Mr. Kucinich, who has fiercely opposed the U.S. intervention against Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi, traveled to Damascus over the weekend to huddle with Syria’s dictator, who is desperately seeking to avoid being isolated and labeled illegitimate by the outside world. Thanks to the slaughter by his security forces of at least 1,400 people — the vast majority of them unarmed civilians — Mr. Assad has few friends these days: The European Union and United States have sanctioned him personally, and even his regime’s most faithful allies are close to abandoning him... But Mr. Assad still has a friend: Mr. Kucinich. 

Kucinich today issued a press release, stating: "I don’t support the violence, I don’t condone the violence and by direct appeal to President Assad and in supporting those who are seeking freedom and serious reforms, I am working to end the violence. I appealed to President Assad to remove his forces from the cities. He told me he would, and today we learned that he has begun to do just that."

The White House tells NBC News that Kucinich's trip wasn't authorized by the administration.

"The Congressman is there of his own accord and not representing the administration in Syria," a White House spokesman says. "We do hope, however, that he made clear to President Assad the need to immediately cease the violence and intimidation of the Syrian people and to begin a meaningful political dialogue."

Back in a May interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kucinich refused to blame Assad for the violence in Syria. "We also understand that there's very serious questions raised about the conduct of the Syrian police, but we also know the Syrian police were fired upon and that many police were murdered," Kucinich told the paper.

Also from that interview: "I've read where President Assad has made certain commitments, and I would imagine that when things finally settle down, that President Assad will move in a direction of democratic reforms," Kucinich said. "He has already made that commitment from what I can see."

In a speech today to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty took a hawkish view on foreign policy, drawing contrasts with President Obama and some of his GOP rivals.

His primary target was Obama, whom he called "timid, slow, and too often without a clear understanding of our interests."

The former Minnesota governor also knocked the president on the subject of Israel. "It breaks my heart that President Obama treats Israel, our great friend, as a problem rather than as an ally,” Pawlenty said.

Both in his prepared remarks -- read on teleprompter -- and in the Q&A following,  Pawlenty tried to separate himself from fellow Republicans. "Parts of the Republican Party now seem to be trying to out-bid the Democrats in appealing to isolationist sentiments. This is no time for uncertain leadership in either party. The stakes are simply too high, and the opportunity is simply too great."

Pawlenty gave his speech at a time when GOP foreign-policy views seem to be splitting. While not mentioning any of his rivals by name, Pawlenty took a swipe at those have been hesitant about continuing the U.S. military role in Afghanistan. "What is wrong is for the Republican Party to shrink from the challenges of American leadership in the world," he said. "History repeatedly warns us that in the long run, weakness in foreign policy costs us and our children much more than we'll save in a budget line item."

"America already has one political party devoted to decline, retrenchment, and withdrawal," he said. "It does not need a second one."

“It is not wrong for Republicans to debate the timing of our military drawdown in Afghanistan,” Pawlenty also stated, adding: "though my belief is that Gen. Petreaus’ voice ought to carry the most weight on that question."

The House has voted against giving President Obama limited authorization to continue on with the operations in Libya. This is the resolution that was sponsored by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and is similiar to the Kerry/McCain resolution.

The vote: 123 (115 Dems, 8 GOPers) were in favor of the resolution, while 295 voted against it (70 Dems, 225 GOPers).

The House now moves on to debating the resolution to defund some of America's efforts in Libya.

*** UPDATE ***
The eight Republicans who voted yes:
Dent PA
Dreier CA (House Rules Chair)
King IA
King NY (House Homeland Security Chair)
Kinzinger IL
McCotter MI
Rivera FL
Rogers MI (House Intel Chair)

The 70 Dems members who voted no:
Andrews NJ
Baldwin WI
Becerra CA (Dem Leadership)
Bishop GA
Braley IA
Capuano MA
Carney DE
Carson IN
Cicilline RI
Clarke MI
Clarke NY
Clay MO
Conyers MI (Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee)
Costello IL
Davis IL
DeFazio OR
Farr CA
Frank MA
Gonzalez TX
Green, Gene TX
Grijalva AZ (Head of the progressive caucus)
Gutierrez IL
Hanabusa HI
Himes CT
Hinchey NY
Hinojosa TX
Holt NJ
Honda CA
Jackson IL
Keating MA
Kucinich OH
Larson CT
Lee CA (former head of the congressional black caucus)
Lewis GA
Lipinski IL
Loebsack IA
Lofgren, Zoe CA
Luján NM
Lynch MA
Maloney NY
McGovern MA
McIntyre NC
Michaud ME
Miller, George CA
Moore WI
Murphy CT
Nadler NY
Pallone NJ
Pastor AZ
Peterson MN
Pingree ME
Quigley IL
Richardson CA
Ross AR
Sanchez, Loretta CA
Schrader OR
Scott VA
Serrano NY
Sherman CA
Shuler NC
Slaughter NY
Stark CA
Tierney MA
Tsongas MA
Velázquez NY
Visclosky IN
Waters CA
Waxman CA
Woolsey CA
Wu OR

Here's how we expect today's votes on Libya to go in the House:

1. Right now, the House is voting on the RULE to govern debate of both Libya-related measures. We could refer to this as a preliminary vote. This will pass.

2. The House will then move on to debating H. J. Res. 68, which authorizes the limited use of the U.S. Armed Forces in Support of the NATO mission in Libya. (This is similar to what Kerry/McCain introduced in the Senate.) After this debate concludes, the House will vote on this resolution. We expect this vote to happen between noon and 1:00 pm ET. We believe this will fail in the House.   

3. The House will then debate H.R. 2278, which limits the use of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for Libya operations. The practical effect of this bill would be that the U.S. could not participate in aerial bombing campaigns in Libya anymore, but would still allow funds to be used for:

(1) search and rescue;
(2) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance;
(3) aerial refueling;
(4) operational planning

Please note that the Senate has no plans to take up this second bill, and there's pretty much no chance it would become law. However, this vote will be interesting because there's a very good chance it could pass with bipartisan support. The GOP says they're not whipping it. Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came and spoke to the Democratic caucus yesterday in an effort to shore up support for the preisdent's policy in Libya. 

We expect the vote on this bill to happen between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm. 

In response to President Obama's announcement that he will begin removing U.S. troops from Afghanistan next month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed gratitude to the troops today, just days after accusing the coalition forces of having ulterior motives and of negotiating with the Taliban.

"The transition of the security and the withdrawal of the foreign troops from Afghanistan means the Afghan forces must be strengthened," Karzai said, embracing Obama’s plan to remove 33,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.  Karzai also said he considers the withdrawals as “a good measure.”

But Karzai’s previous accusations did not go unnoticed at the White House. 

According to White House Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, President Obama spoke with President Karzai about his critical comments yesterday.

"President Karzai suggested that perhaps he was misquoted,” McDonough said today on MSNBC’s "Andrea Mitchell Reports." McDonough also noted that Karzai’s remarks today were “a much more positive expression of appreciation to our troops and their families” and “more in line with the kind of sacrifice our troops have made.”

The Taliban also responded to the withdrawal announcement, promising to increase violence against all foreign soldiers as long as troops remain in Afghanistan. But McDonough insists that U.S. forces will continue to keep the heat on the Taliban in order to further demolish its influence in the region.

“Even at the end of this drawdown, Andrea, you’re still talking about 68,000 of the world’s finest fighting force maintaining that pressure on the Taliban,” McDonough said. “So, we don’t think they’re going to wait this out. And the longer they wait out, the more Afghan national security forces we can train and then it’ll be the Afghan’s fight to take to them.”

Though he calls President Obama's plan to withdraw the 30,000 U.S. "surge" troops from Afghanistan by the summer of 2012 "substantial" and "positive," the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the withdrawal of the remaining troops to stay through 2014 is too slow.

"I think I will be arguing that it ... should be faster after the summer of 2012," Democratic Sen. Carl Levin told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," citing the "positive" conditions on the ground.

The Michigan senator recently called on the president to bring home 15,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan by the end of the year.

The Afghan army has grown but has also become stronger because "there's been a lot more partnering and training of the Afghan army with us and with other coalition forces," he said.

He also stated that "the Taliban's worst nightmare" is a faster drawdown, because the terror group could no longer use foreign involvement in Afghanistan as a "propaganda tool for recruiting."

But Levin realizes there is still a long way to go, and recent comments by Afghan President Hamid Karzai -- including his statement that NATO-led coalition forces are in Afghanistan "for their own purposes, for their own goals, and they’re using our soil for that" -- cause setbacks.

Levin told Mitchell "those comments were highly distrurbing, and when I go to Afghanistan in the next couple weeks, I will do what the president did and that's to tell President Karzai directly that those kind of comments play right into the hands of the Taliban -- which is the common enemy."

“In a prime-time, 15-minute White House address to the nation, Obama simultaneously heralded the achievements of the “surge’’ he ordered 18 months ago and underscored his push for a responsible US exit by 2014,” the Boston Globe writes. “The withdrawal of 10,000 troops by the end of this year had been expected, but the president set a quicker timetable for the rest of the surge forces to come home than some of his top commanders had hoped for.”

The Washington Post: "President Obama charted a middle course Wednesday for ending the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, outlining a departure plan that will remove troops faster than his commanders had requested but more slowly than many of his political allies would like."

“President Barack Obama's decision to start returning U.S. troops from Afghanistan is a gamble that that he can balance two competing realities: demands from the Pentagon that he leave enough boots on the ground to finish the job, and demands from Congress and the American public that he end the longest war in the nation's history,” the Wall Street Journal adds.

The New York Times says that military experts are worried about the 2012 pullback. Mr. Obama’s plan, announced Wednesday, has two stages. In the first, the United States will withdraw 10,000 troops by the end of this year, or about double what the military had desired. In the second, 20,000 additional troops, the remainder of the 2009 surge, will be withdrawn by the end of next summer... 'Bu' putting a September 2012 expiration tag on the rest of the surge raises real concerns,” added General Barno, now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a policy research center. 'That’s the middle of the fighting season.'" 

“President Barack Obama’s decision to reduce troop levels in Afghanistan by 33,000 by September 2012 drew mixed reviews on Capitol Hill, particularly from top Republicans who appeared deeply divided over the proposal,” Roll Call says.

The New York Daily News previews Obama’s trip to New York today: “President Obama swoops back into the city Thursday to flex his fund-raising muscle at a slew of cash bashes - and to send a message to his liberal base.” Obama will address the LGBT Leadership Gala, and the Daily News makes the point that with the “current debate on same-sex marriage in Albany,” it will be interesting to see what Obama’s position will be.