Robert Gates will step down as Secretary of Defense this week, with Leon Panetta taking over. Panetta will have a lot on his plate, starting with the start of U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan later this week. Noel King, managing producer for The Takeaway, looks at what obstacles are in store for Panetta as he begins his reign as Defense Secretary. 

President Obama will meet with Congressional leaders to try and come to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, or face going into default. Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC, looks at the economic effects this on-going debate could have if a conclusion is not reached soon. 

On Wednesday evening President Obama will unveil his exit strategy from Afghanistan. We’ll hear exactly how many of our troops will be coming home and when the U.S. military will hand over power to Afghan security forces. This comes nearly a decade after the first U.S. military campaign against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. There has been mounting political pressure on the president to instigate a significant withdrawal and many people are hoping this marks the closing chapter of the War in Afghanistan. 

Over the weekend, Afghan president Hamid Karzai lashed out at coalition forces on state television, suggesting NATO was in his country for "their own purposes." U.S. officials fired back, suggesting that such statements may hasten a withdrawal of troops despite continuing challenges to Afghanistan's government. This rhetorical tit-for-tat illustrates a larger argument that grows even more heated as taste for the war across the country and in Washington lessens. Is it time to get out completely? And if so, how? 

There may be a change for the plan to completely withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the U.S. would be open to discussions of an extended stay in Iraq, if asked by the Iraqi authorities. "In terms of the future strategic relationship beyond the end of 2011, I would say that the initiative clearly needs to come from the Iraqis," Gates told reporters yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. Is the U.S. legacy there going to be even longer than we imagined? 

On Wednesday, President Obama will present the Medal of Honor to the parents of Staff Sergeant Robbie Miller, killed in action in Afghanistan at the age of 24. Miller is credited with saving the lives of seven American soldiers and fifteen Afghan troops as he charged toward an enemy position, drawing fire away from his comrades. 

Miller is only the third person to receive the Medal of Honor for valor in Afghanistan, and many wonder why that number is so low. 

Today marks the formal end of the United States' combat mission in Iraq, after almost eight years. There are now fewer than 50,000 troops left in Iraq — all serving in non-combat roles. The Obama administration has pledged to withdraw all troops by October 2011. But many are now asking questions about what Iraq's future holds. What kind of presence will the U.S. have there in the coming years and is it realistic for the country to fully support itself by the end of next year?

The Green Zone was established in Baghdad when U.S. troops invaded in 2003, and since then it has come to symbolize much of the American presence, both in Iraq and abroad. It is a fortress, a city within a city, and the headquarters of both American power and the Iraqi government.

Today we take a look at the Green Zone’s future and legacy as American troops continue their withdrawal from Iraq, and whether the Green Zone needs to be dismantled in order for the country to have true sovereignty.

At the beginning of his presidency, President Obama pledged to cease combat operations in Iraq by August 31st, 2010. As we near that deadline, Obama seems on track to keep his promise. By the end of this month, combat operations will cease, and only 50,000 support troops will remain in Iraq. By the end of 2011, the president says, they will all come home. 

In June, 32 members of the U.S. Army took their own lives. That's a sharp uptick compared to the first five months of 2010, when the number of suicides in the Army was actually down thirty percent, from the same months in 2009. What happened in June? 

The Senate Armed Services Committee meets today to discuss prevention of suicides within the U.S. armed forces. Suicide is the second-biggest killer of U.S. Marines; this year, 55 Marines have been killed in combat, while 21 have taken their own lives. The U.S. Army faces an equally large problem, with 245 members taking their own lives in 2009. We're looking at efforts to drive those numbers down and the devastation wrought by the suicide of a loved one.

Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. David Petraeus on Wednesday defended President Obama's plan to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July of 2011. Gen. Petraeus faced tough questions from lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who worry that Afghanistan will view our drawdown as abandonment. "We are sounding an uncertain trumpet to our friends and to our enemies. They believe we are leaving as of July 2011," McCain said.

In 2009, the Pentagon lifted a ban that forbade members of the news media from covering the dignified transfer of the remains of U.S. servicemen and women at Dover Air Force Base. On April 5th, 2009, around forty reporters and photographers were present for the return of the remains of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers of Hopewell, Virginia.

But these days, there's often only one member of the news media present. Steve Ruark is a freelance photographer with the Associated Press. He has been to Dover for dignified transfers more than ninety times.

The Obama administration says the planned drawdown of 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq is moving forward on schedule. There are currently around 94,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and a September 1 deadline is looming large for American officials. This comes despite post-election violence across the country and delays in the formation of the Iraqi government.

The number of American troops in Afghanistan will outnumber those in Iraq by late May or early June, according to new reporting from the Brookings Institution. That news comes as the U.S. and Iraq mark five years of democratically elected government in Iraq and as U.S. and NATO allies prepare for an upcoming offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar.

The Takeaway talks to Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to both Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush Administration. He is now the President of Khalilzad Associates.

By some counts the US has lost more than 1,000 lives in Operation Enduring Freedom — the umbrella term for the war in Afghanistan. The latest casualty according to the Department of Defense brings their count to the cusp of 1000.  Staff Sgt. William S. Ricketts, 27, from Corinth, Miss. was killed when insurgents attacked his unit in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan last week. But there is a name, and a story behind each number.

American, British and Afghan troops have entered day five of a major offensive in a Taliban stronghold in Southern Afghanistan. While the offensive is largely going to plan, troops on the ground are dealing with far more than just encounters with Taliban fighters. The accidental killing of 12 civilians in Afghanistan in recent days has troops bringing condolences to the families of the victims.

U.S. and Pakistani intelligence forces, working together, have captured a leading Taliban figure. The apprehension of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar may cause a significant disruption to Taliban operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and raises questions of whether ties are warming between Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, and the CIA. Baradar is reportedly being interrogated by both American and Pakistani operatives. Georgetown Prof. Christine Fair, who focuses on Pakistan and Afghanistan, joins us for analysis.

U.S., U.K. and Afghan forces continue a military assault against Taliban fighters in Marjah, Afghanistan this morning. Plans for the offensive were widely discussed by U.S. and NATO commanders before the operation began, in an attempt to warn civilians in the area and limit civilian casualties. But on Sunday, two coalition rockets missed their mark, killing 12 civilians. We look at how coalition forces are doing in this critical operation with Jeffrey Dressler an Afghanistan expert with the Institute for the Study of War and Global Post correspondent, Jean MacKenzie, who is on the ground in Afghanistan.

President Obama will announce his strategy for Afghanistan in a speech at West Point tonight. He is expected to send roughly 30,000 more troops to the war and discuss the criteria for an exit strategy. Besides America and Afghanistan itself, the country that stands to be most directly affected by these next moves is Pakistan. Hassan Abbas, Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society and senior advisor at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, joins us to discuss our ongoing strategy.

Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times, and Nick Childs, defense and security correspondent for the BBC, take a look at what's ahead once President Obama announces his decision on troop levels for Afghanistan. They'll also examine what's ahead for health care as the Senate starts debate on their hotly contested reform bill; what Dubai's financial situation means for the rest of the world; and whether a "jobs summit" could cure our rising unemployment.