Army

"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.

All four Americans were suspected of being terrorists, and all four attacks occurred since 2009.

The Pentagon wants Congress to funnel funds toward expenses for the Afghanistan war and transportation.

The meeting comes a day after Joint Chiefs Chairman Dempsey called sexual assaults in the military a "crisis."

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Congress has become “an enabler” of sexual assault in the military after new sexual abuse allegations surfaced against an Army sergeant tasked with sexual assault prevention.

Speier, long a critic of the military’s approach to sexual assault, said in a statement that Congress is complicit because lawmakers have failed to pass legislation that would take the cases outside the military’s chain of command.

“Another sex scandal rocks the military. A service member responsible for preventing and responding to sexual assault is being investigated for perpetrating the heinous crime he is supposed to prevent,” Speier said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the services to retrain and rescreen sexual assault prevention personnel after the incident at Fort Hood.

President Obama will announce in the coming weeks the number of combat troops that will be withdrawn from Afghanistan next year, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday in Stockholm.

"Very shortly, not too long from now, the president does intend to make public what his plans are for post-2014," Kerry told reporters, according to Reuters.

Earlier this year, Obama announced that he would bring home some 34,000 troops by next February, effectively halving the American military presence in Afghanistan. But the administration has not yet said  how many troops will remain at the end of 2014; as many as 15,000 service members could stay behind to provide training and support to Afghan security forces.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said Tuesday that sequestration could place the U.S. military at greater risk next year if it’s called on to intervene in Syria.

Odierno said that after three or four months, the military’s readiness will be hindered due to the automatic budget cuts, increasing the risk in a possible U.S. intervention.

“Readiness is OK right now, but it’s degrading significantly because our training is reducing,” Odierno said at a breakfast roundtable with reporters. “So the next three, four months, we probably have the capability to do it. Next year it becomes a little bit more risky because our readiness is lower.”

Five American troops were killed by a roadside bomb Saturday in Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.

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