Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen addresses troops Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, Thursday July 28, 2011. Questions on military spending and how the ongoing budget struggles will impact them dominated the morning meeting at the Kandahar base, and it was the first one Marines asked when he moved on to Camp Leatherneck later. (AP Photo/MC1 Chad J. McNeeley - US Department of Defense)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen addresses troops Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, Thursday July 28, 2011. Questions on military spending and how the ongoing budget struggles will impact them dominated the morning meeting at the Kandahar base, and it was the first one Marines asked when he moved on to Camp Leatherneck later. (AP Photo/MC1 Chad J. McNeeley - US Department of Defense)
U.S. Marine Cpl. Patrick Ducey, 21, of Garfield, N.J., with the 2nd Battalion 12th Marines based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, rests for a moment while hiking down from a mountain top observation point in the midday heat Saturday, July 30, 2011 in Kajaki, Helmand province, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has until mid-October to submit a plan for the initial withdrawal of American troops. His decisions may hinge in part on whether the latest surge in attacks continues through the holy month of Ramadan.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says commanders are hearing that Taliban leaders may try to regain lost ground during the Islamic holy period, which begins Monday.
Mullen says Marine Gen. John Allen, who has just taken over as top U.S. commander here, needs time to evaluate security needs and put together a detailed withdrawal plan.
Mullen's comments for the first time laid out a deadline for Allen to submit plans for withdrawing 10,000 U.S. troops by the end of the year.
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