On Thanksgiving Day, reports on ABC and NBC (CBS didn't air last night) described an improving security situation in Iraq, reflecting the cautiously optimistic tone of recent reporting on the US mission in that country. NBC Nightly News said Thanksgiving in Baghdad was "almost a celebration," adding, "Today we see traffic jams where Al Qaeda once saw targets." ABC World News led with a story that noted that "last year, on this day, Baghdad was in lockdown, after one of this city's deadliest suicide bombings." But "the headlines in recent weeks have been different." Yesterday, ABC's Baghdad correspondent, Terry McCarthy, "got an extraordinary look at the country, traveling with the number two US general there, Ray Odierno. They made nine stops, visiting several communities that have been notorious for violence. And...the optimism, among Americans at least, is spreading. ... the message we get from US commanders outside of Baghdad is pretty much the same wherever we go, cautious optimism. ... Civilian deaths in Baghdad are down 65% compared to six months ago. Car bombs are down 47%."
As usual, news of security progress in Iraq goes hand in hand with reports of continuing if less frequent violence. The New York Times reports this morning "men described by witnesses as Sunni insurgents dressed as Iraqi Army troops stormed a Sunni village on the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad at dawn on Thursday, killing at least 11 people during a three-hour firefight before American and Iraqi soldiers drove them off." The AP says the terrorists were "Al-Qaida militants" and notes that "later Thursday, mortars or rockets slammed into the US-protected Green Zone -- dramatizing warnings by senior American commanders that extremists still pose a threat to Iraq's fragile security despite the downturn in violence." The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Washington Times run similar reports.
Bush Telephones Troops President Bush yesterday telephoned US troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan to thank them for their service. A widely distributed AP dispatch notes the President "called several servicemen and servicewomen Thursday to extend best wishes and say it was 'the least I can do.' Three of those receiving holiday greetings are in the Army, two are Marines, three are in the Air Force, two serve in the Coast Guard and two in the Navy." Another AP story reports from Camp Speicher, in Iraq, "US troops here celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday with a turkey dinner in a dining hall strung with red, orange and brown paper streamers. Each long table was topped with a watermelon carved in the shape of a basket, filled with grapes and squash." The US military "puts on traditional holiday celebrations for about 165,000 military personnel stationed across Iraq." The New York Times, meanwhile, focuses on the Thanksgiving celebration at the Forward Operating Base Airborne, in Afghanistan.
McCain Visits US Troops ABC World News reported, "One of the presidential candidates, Republican John McCain, spent Thanksgiving in Iraq with the troops in Camp Liberty in Baghdad, part of the delegation of US senators there. It's McCain's third trip since the troop surge began last winter. The senator said while more work needs to be done to stabilize Iraq, the surge...is working."
In a story on the conflicting pressures on Senate Democratic leaders sandwiched between their anti-war base and the political reality of their narrow majorities -- the AP reports "the Democrats' flagship proposal on Iraq is aimed at bringing most troops home." But "if enacted, the law would still allow for tens of thousands of US troops to stay deployed for years to come." And "this reality -- readily acknowledged by Democrats who say it's still their best shot at curbing the nearly five-year war -- has drawn the ire of anti-war groups and bolstered President Bush's prediction that the United States will most likely wind up maintaining a hefty long-term presence in Iraq, much like in South Korea." The Democratic proposal "would order troops to begin leaving Iraq within 30 days, a requirement Bush is already on track to meet." The proposal also "sets a goal of ending combat by Dec. 15, 2008." But "after that, troops remaining in Iraq would be restricted to three missions: counterterrorism, training Iraqi security forces and protecting US assets, including diplomats."
Former Top Iraq Commander Now Backing House Democratic Plan The Washington Post reported yesterday that "Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who commanded US troops in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, is scheduled to speak on behalf of the Democratic Party this weekend in support of a House war funding bill that would require...Bush to bring the bulk of US troops home from Iraq by the end of next year." Sanchez, who "has spoken out against the Bush administration's handling of the war and has assailed current war strategy as doomed to fail, plans to argue that the United States cannot win in Iraq with the military alone and that it is prudent to bring troops home to bolster national security."
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At the end of a brief report on US troops celebrating Thanksgiving in Iraq and Afghanistan, NBC Nightly News reported, "There are 25,000 troops now serving in Afghanistan where there are troubling signs tonight. A new study out of Brussels says more than half of the country is once again under the control of the Taliban."
NBC added no details on this alarming study, and the report appears to have generated little coverage in the US. In Britain, the London Telegraph reported that a European think-tank, "the Senlis Council," claimed that the "insurgents controlled 'vast swathes of unchallenged territory' and were gaining 'more and more political legitimacy in the minds of the Afghan people.'" It said that "the Nato force in the country needed to be doubled to 80,000 front-line soldiers who should be allowed to pursue militants into Pakistan." The report "said that its 'exclusive' research found the Taliban controlled 54 per cent of Afghanistan." Also in the UK, the Independent reports "Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Nato chief led strong criticism on Thursday of a European think-tank report that said the Taliban were installed in more than half of Afghanistan." NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer "said the Senlis Council report released on Wednesday 'should not be considered as realistic.'"
The Los Angeles Times is reporting this morning that President Bush's statements about the health of the economy seem to be at odds with the perceptions of most Americans. In the last six weeks, says the Times, Bush "has made at least five speeches in which he talked up the economy." In them, he has "acknowledged the economic woes, calling them 'serious challenges.' But, he pointed out that the nation's job growth was on a record-setting 50-month run, unemployment was 'a low 4.7%' and in the third quarter the economy grew at 'a vigorous rate of 3.9%.' He spoke of 'economic vitality' and the 8.3 million jobs created by 'American entrepreneurs and dreamers and doers.'" But it is "an increasingly difficult pitch for Bush," says the Times, as "polls show that Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy, with more saying it is doing poorly than at any other time in the last five years. And the projections of private economists and the Federal Reserve Board suggest that pessimism is well-founded."
In fact, the Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that "consumer sentiment sank in November to a two-year low as soaring fuel prices, a weak housing market and inflationary fears weighed heavily on consumers." The University of Michigan consumer-sentiment reading conducted for a London-based wire service "dropped to 76.1 in November from 80.9 in October. Except for a dip in sentiment after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the survey is at its lowest point since 1992."
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The AP reports New Hampshire "set its earliest-ever presidential primary on Wednesday, deciding on Jan. 8 and claiming its traditional spot as the nation's first in a nomination season pushed almost to New Year's Day of the election year." The decision "ends months of speculation, including the possibility that the state might actually move its primary into December to keep its spot at the head of the line." The New York Times notes the announcement, "by Secretary of State William M. Gardner of New Hampshire, came hours after the Michigan Supreme Court decided that that state's primary could go forward on Jan. 15."
The Christian Science Monitor reports when an ABC News/Washington Post Iowa caucus poll "put Sen. Barack Obama four points ahead of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in Iowa, the political world stopped and took notice." The poll also showed John Edwards "within striking distance, four points behind Clinton." The "silver lining" for Clinton, however, is that "because she is not the clear favorite in Iowa, she does not face an expectation that she will win. And if she pulls out a victory, that's big news."
In its "Washington Wire" column, the Wall Street Journal reports that in Iowa, Obama "has spent about $5 million on ads while moving ahead of Clinton in Washington Post-ABC survey. The former first lady has spent just over $3 million." With a "smaller budget, Edwards airs hottest message: vow to strip lawmakers' health coverage if overhaul bid fails."
The Washington Post reports the "bizarre math practiced by the Democratic Party (the Republicans have different rules)" in the Iowa caucuses "means that being a citizen's second choice can be a very good thing." If candidates garner less than 15 percent of caucus goers' support in a precinct, his or her supporters have "the option of throwing his or her support to someone else, someone they like second-best. And that may help the second-best person come in first." Pollsters "ask Democrats in Iowa not only about their first choices but about their second choices, too. (Obama leads in both categories, according to the new Washington Post-ABC News Poll.)"
Clinton Focused On General Election The Wall Street Journal reports in a front page story that Sen. Clinton "actually is running two campaigns at once -- courting left-leaning Democrats to get the nomination, but mindful even now of maintaining a sufficiently centrist course to withstand Republican attacks and win election next November." Clinton also "views her campaign as a template for her possible presidency." As "the front-runner, Sen. Clinton has drawn attacks from Democratic rivals at a crucial moment on topics ranging from Iran to taxes, even while holding positions that could serve her well in a general-election campaign, or as president."
In the Wall Street Journal's Potomac Watch column, Kimberly Strassel says, "We're also just 40 days from Iowa. The long, gentle treatment by opponents allowed Mrs. Clinton to build up such a sizable lead the attacks might now come a little too late." And "consider this: What none of her Democratic opponents has broached -- what has so far been a super-off-limits-high-security-no-fly-zone -- is any direct mention of Mrs. Clinton's ethically challenged period as first lady."
SEC Investigating Clinton Supporter's Firm The Washington Post reports the Securities and Exchange Commission "has launched an investigation into InfoUSA, a Nebraska company that used corporate funds to fly Hillary Rodham Clinton around the country, and one of only two companies to put Bill Clinton on its payroll after he left the White House." Two sources "familiar with the company's troubles suggested that investigators would focus their attention on executives' use of company money to feather their own nests."
Clinton Backs Manned Spaceflight Plans The Washington Post reports when it "comes to President Bush's ambitious initiative to send humans back to the moon and on to Mars, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is all but alone in staking out a formal position -- and it's one that lends support to key aspects of the president's effort." Clinton "initially outlined the need for a 'robust' human spaceflight program last month during a Washington speech on science policy, despite being broadly critical of the Bush administration's record on scientific issues."
The AP reports Rudy Giuliani is "mostly shunning the policy-laden town hall settings favored by many of his rivals" and has "opted instead to drop by popular eateries. He shakes some hands, compliments the chef, maybe makes a few remarks and then gets down to business, sampling the local fare with true gusto." The diner tour "lets Giuliani play to his popularity and celebrity," and it "also lets him avoid tough questions in favor of bagels."
The New York Times examines other candidates' "food issues." Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson is "a veteran of the Atkins and liquid diets who wears a double chin despite daily workouts," while Barack Obama, "who was chubby as a child, refers to himself as skinny in speeches and barely touches fatty foods - except at events like the Iowa State Fair." On the GOP side, "there is Mike Huckabee, a self-described 'recovering food addict' who lost 110 pounds a few years ago."
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Once again, the late night shows were in reruns last night due to the ongoing writers' strike.
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