Panetta Awaits Withdrawal Plan For Afghan Surge Forces Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday he was awaiting plans from Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, to bring home the remaining 23,000 U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan during the 2009 surge. Panetta, speaking to reporters on the plane traveling to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, said that despite recent setbacks, including the burning of Korans by U.S. soldiers and the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. soldier, the withdrawal was on schedule to finish by 2014. "What I am awaiting are General Allen's plans with regards to taking down the remaining 23,000 from the surge," Panetta said. And, we'll review those plans. Pentagon spokesman George Little said the analysis on withdrawal scenarios isn't yet complete.