More to the Story

Inside the Pentagon breaks news this morning about Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey's opposition to a congressional proposal for a bipartisan Afghanistan-Pakistan study group. From the story:

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey agree that the government should not "divert resources" to establish a bipartisan Afghanistan-Pakistan study group proposed on Capitol Hill, according to a spokesman for Dempsey.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), the author of an amendment to the fiscal year 2012 defense-spending bill calling for the creation of the panel, sent several letters to Pentagon leaders in recent months -- including six to Panetta and at least one to Dempsey -- urging them to create the panel before the bill becomes law.

Dempsey's predecessor, Adm. Michael Mullen, also opposed the creation of the bipartisan group, which would be modeled after the 2006 Iraq Study Group (ISG) on which Panetta served.

"I appreciate your continued efforts to establish an outside review of current military strategy in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region," Mullen wrote in an Aug. 4, response to Wolf. "However, I continue to think that establishment of such an entity would distract from our current strategy, which is yielding tangible results as stated in our latest periodic review."

Dempsey and Panetta also oppose the proposal, according to Col. Dave Lapan, Dempsey's spokesman. "Gen. Dempsey agrees with Secretary Panetta's recommendation that we not divert resources to establish an Afghanistan/Pakistan Study Group at this time," Lapan said via email. Inside the Pentagon previously reported that Wolf had received a lukewarm response from the Pentagon on the creation of the group.

Since publication last night, we've heard a bit more on this. Panetta "communicated his preferences" to the proposal's author, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), on Nov. 3, said Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby today. "I won't discuss the details of that correspondence," Kirby said.

But a defense official joined Dempsey's spokesman in acknowledging the defense secretary's opposition to the proposal. "Secretary Panetta feels confident that, given the security progress we are making in Afghanistan, the success we are having in growing a developing the ANSF, and the ongoing assessments we already do -- and are required to do -- for the Congress, the work of such a group would largely be duplicative," the defense official said.