The Topline: After two major wars in the Mideast and the death of Osama bin Laden, President Obama laid out his vision for how the United States will carry on its fight against al Qaeda and militant extremists around the world. 

Obama laid out his ambitious counterterrorism strategy for the post-9/11 world on Thursday. 

That plan includes new, restricted rules on the use of armed drone strikes, the closure of the controversial military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the scrapping of the 9/11-era rules of war codifying both efforts.

"What we must do is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend," Obama said during the speech.

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Obama promised to ramp down or cancel policies that would usher in a new chapter in America's war on terror.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs and all of the military service chiefs will be making a rare joint appearance on Capitol Hill next month to testify on the numerous proposals in Congress to address military sexual assault.

The Senate Armed Services Committee announced Thursday that would hold a hearing on sexual assault legislation next month with a packed witness table: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey, the service secretaries and the services’ top attorneys will all testify.

At the hearing, lawmakers will be looking for the military brass to weigh in on a number of different proposals that are designed to curb the rise of sexual assault in the military.

Yemen on Thursday applauded President Obama's promise to send Guantánamo detainees to their home countries and vowed to work toward their “gradual rehabilitation and integration back into society.”

The president vowed in his speech at the National Defense University in Washington to lift the ban on transferring 56 Yemenis who have been cleared for release. Senate Republicans pounced on the news, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) saying it would create a “national security problem for our soldiers and our diplomats.”

“Yemen welcomes the Administration's decision to lift the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen,” the Yemeni embassy in Washington said in a press release. “[The Government of Yemen] will work with the United States to take all necessary steps to ensure the safe return of its detainees and will continue working towards their gradual rehabilitation and integration back into society.”

Chambliss focused his criticism on Obama's plans to move toward closing the Guantanamo Bay detainee camp.

"This is part of free speech — you being able to speak, but also you listening. And me be able to speak," Obama said.

President Obama announced steps that could reduce drone strikes, even as he defended their legality.

Afghan officials on Thursday said they had discovered the body of a man they claim was tortured by an American special forces team member.

The body was discovered near a former U.S. base in Nerkh district in Wardak province, according to The New York Times.

Four lawmakers who have been key players in the fight against military sexual assault in Congress pushed on Thursday for passage of legislation that would strip commanders’ ability to overturn guilty verdicts — but would not remove cases from the military’s chain of command.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) held a press conference to re-introduce legislation addressing the rise of sexual assaults in the military.

Their bill would prevent commanders from overturning turning guilty verdicts in most criminal cases, in response to a sexual assault case this year where a jury’s guilty verdict was dismissed.