Sen. Barack Obama, kicking off his tour of the Middle East and Europe, met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday in Kabul, where he stressed the important of withdrawing forces from Iraq and reinforcing Afghanistan. The story led all three network newscasts last night. ABC World News reported Obama "is calling it one of the biggest mistakes made in the war on terror: the Bush Administration's decision to focus on Iraq rather than Afghanistan. And Obama had a captive audience today as he sat down with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai." In an interview with the CBS Evening News, Obama "offered a bleak assessment of the worsening conditions inside Afghanistan," saying: "The situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan, and I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front on our battle against terrorism." According to CBS, Obama's "immediate answer is more troops. He said commanders told him they could use at least two, maybe three additional brigades." The AP reports that Karzai's staff "said Obama's message was positive. 'Sen. Obama conveyed...that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continue the war against terrorism with vigor,' said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai's spokesman," adding that "no matter who wins the US elections, Afghanistan will have a very strong partner in the United States."
NBC Nightly News added, "Earlier at a dining hall on a base near Kabul, Senator Obama thanked some of the 34,000 US soldiers here for their service." Obama: "We want to make sure that everybody back home understands how much pride people take in their work here and how much of a sacrifice people are making here. It's outstanding."
Meanwhile, USA Today calls Obama's trip to "the two war zones" both "high-profile" and "high-stakes," noting he has cast it "as a prelude to his presidency." The "risk for him is that a misstep could enhance those doubts or an overstep create a backlash," but so far "the trip produced photographs and video of Obama shooting hoops with...troops in Kuwait, sharing Sunday breakfast with forces in Afghanistan, being briefed by military commanders at Bagram Air Base and sitting down in facing armchairs with...Karzai. ... The images could help Obama back home."
Obama Calls For More Pressure On Pakistan The Washington Post notes Obama also said yesterday that "the United States should press neighboring Pakistan harder to help eliminate the terrorist sanctuaries and training camps along the border that are fueling the strength of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. 'I think that message has not been sent,' he said in implicit criticism of the current administration." The Hill quotes Obama saying, "I will push Pakistan very hard to make sure that we go after those training camps. ... I think it's absolutely vital to the security interests of both the United States and Pakistan." The AP reports that in an interview, Obama "suggested the U.S. link continued military aid to Pakistan to the government's willingness to combat terrorists in a lawless region astride its border with Afghanistan."
Obama Meets With Kuwaiti Emir The Politico reports, "Obama left Afghanistan on Sunday and made a second unannounced stop in Kuwait, Arab media reported. ... In Kuwait, Obama was honored at a banquet at the residence of the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, according to the government news agency."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's comments on Sen. Barack Obama's Iraq plan, published in Germany over the weekend, are being portrayed in US media as boosting the Illinois senator's presidential campaign. On its front page, the Los Angeles Times says Obama's "plan for bringing the war to a swift conclusion" is "triggering a political furor abroad and at home." Obama "arrived today in Baghdad, where he is scheduled to meet with Iraqi political leaders who were scrambling over the weekend to clarify an apparent endorsement of his proposal to pull US forces out of Iraq in 16 months."
USA Today reports Sen. John McCain's campaign "jousted Sunday with two prominent politicians over when and how to pull troops out of Iraq": Obama and Maliki. Democrats "embraced al-Maliki's initial comments. McCain campaign aides noted that al-Maliki's government and US military officials say security needs on the ground must dictate any withdrawal." ABC World News similarly reported that "this weekend...Maliki appeared to agree with Obama's time frame, in an interview he gave to a German magazine, but yesterday his office said he had been misquoted and said he did not want to get involved in US politics." The New York Times reports that despite al-Maliki's denial, "in an audio recording of Mr. Maliki's interview that Der Spiegel provided to The New York Times, Mr. Maliki seemed to state a clear affinity for Mr. Obama's position, bringing it up on his own in an answer to a general question on troop presence." NBC Nightly News, meanwhile, reported, "We often forget Iraq, as a sovereign nation, has a big vote on" when US troops leave, and Maliki "seems ready to exercise that vote."
The Politico says Obama's "long-awaited and much-hyped trip overseas...seems to have come at the perfect time as recent events...have played into his message," but "it's Iraq where Obama got perhaps his most significant bon voyage gift," in both al-Maliki's statement and President Bush's announcement that the US and Iraq had agreed to a "general time horizon" for withdrawal.
Many Arabs Express Disappointment With Obama Meanwhile, a pair of stories out this morning focus on growing disappointment among Arabs with Obama. The Financial Times says Obama is "coming under greater scrutiny among Arabs, with queries about his ability to deal with the crises in their region. ... One of the loudest complaints about US policy is the belief that Washington is strongly biased towards the Jewish state. Yet expectations that Mr Obama might follow a different path were damped when he told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in June that Jerusalem must remain the capital of Israel." Bloomberg News says that after Obama's comments regarding Jerusalem, "many Muslims around the world doubt the 46-year-old Illinois senator will advance their interests much and expect Obama to leave largely unchanged a U.S. foreign policy they perceive as unfairly tilted toward Israel."
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The AP reports Sen. Barack Obama's campaign said yesterday the candidate "will give a speech on the future of trans-Atlantic relations in front of a Prussian war monument in downtown Berlin - in view of the historic Brandenburg Gate. The announcement that he will speak at the Victory Column, or Siegessaeule, ended weeks of speculation here" about where in the city Obama would speak." The New York Times adds, "According to the campaign, the event will be free and open to the public, raising the possibility of a huge crowd in Obama-crazy Germany." USA Today says German newspapers "predict a crowd of as many as 100,000 for the speech at Tiergarten Park."
William Kristol writes in the New York Times, "I'll go out on a limb and say that Barack Obama will be well received when he speaks in Berlin on July 24. O.K., it's not exactly a limb. A recent poll shows that the German public prefers Obama to John McCain by 67 percent to 6 percent." And Roger Cohen writes in his New York Times column, "Obama has already won the US election by a landslide. In Europe, that is. Polls show the French putting the first African-American in the White House with 86 percent backing. Obamania is about as intense in Germany and Britain, the two other European countries the Senator will visit this week."
With the media's attention firmly affixed on Barack Obama's trip abroad, John McCain is touring the northeast and attending a number of fundraisers. The AP reports McCain joined Rudy Giuliani yesterday at Yankee Stadium in New York for a game yesterday, and ABC News reported on its 'Political Radar' blog, "With the stadium filling, several more boisterous Yankees fans began a chant of 'Hey, McCain' and applauded in an effort to get the candidate's attention. When the 71-year-old presidential candidate failed to respond to the crowd at first, one Yankee fan commented, 'He can't hear!' McCain then turned and waved to thundering applause and shouts of 'Run with him Rudy.'" The New York Post reports that McCain also held "a closed-door meeting with Schools Chancellor Joel Klein -- all the while keeping mum about his race for the White House. McCain ducked reporters, describing the meeting with Klein as 'private,' even though it was listed on his schedule."
McCain continues his swing through the northeast today, with the AP reporting he will campaign and attend fundraisers in Maine, while WGRZ-TV reports that he is heading to Buffalo tonight for a fundraiser that is expected to bring in at least $1 million.
The disparity in coverage between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain has generated a great deal of grumbling among more conservative media outlets, such as this piece in the New Hampshire Union Leader by published Joseph W. McQuaid, but so far has not been the focus of much coverage by the big media, until CBS News looked at it last night. The CBS Evening News reported what McCain "doesn't have these days is media magic. Since June 9th when Obama effectively clinched the votes for the nomination, The Project for Excellence in Journalism took a weekly look at three hundred political stories in newspapers, magazines and TV. In 77% of the stories, Obama played an important role. Fifty one percent featured John McCain." David Mark of Politico.com said, "A lot of Republicans are very frustrated with what they see as the uncritical coverage of Barack Obama's candidacy."
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Time reports that 85% of respondents "in a TIME/Rockefeller Foundation poll "believe that the country is on the wrong track. ... Among blacks and Latinos, the dissatisfaction levels are 96% and 88%, respectively." But "most intriguing, a majority of those surveyed believe in the power of Big Government to solve the biggest problems of our time. They support major government investments that create jobs -- 82% favor public works projects -- and they remain sympathetic to the economy's victims: 70% say more government programs should help those now struggling."
Time adds that "the 20th century's social contract is unraveling...and almost all of us -- 8 in 10, in fact -- yearn for a new bargain to help meet 21st century challenges. ... The Rockefeller Foundation has launched a $70 million Campaign for American Workers to expand these efforts by helping shape new policy proposals and financial products that promote and protect savings, access to health care and secure retirements."
US Economic Situation Compared To 1933 Newsweek reports, "On Tuesday and Wednesday, Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, a scholar of the epic financial meltdown of the Great Depression, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a survivor of more recent Wall Street crises, told Congress of their latest efforts to rescue the financial sector. ... It certainly seems a bit more like 1933, and not just because CNN, the modern-day equivalent of newsreels, has been filled with pictures of people queuing outside failed banks. Rather, as happened 75 years ago, Wall Street -- after two terms of a business-friendly Republican president -- self-immolated on a pyre of greed, incompetence and excessive optimism."
Paulson: Banking System Is Sound Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Sunday made appearances on CBS' Face the Nation and CNN's Late Edition, where he reiterated his view that the US banking system is fundamentally sound. The AP reports Secretary Paulson "sought to reassure an anxious public Sunday that the banking system is sound, while also bracing people for more troubled times ahead." Paulson said, "I think it's going to be months that we're working our way through this period - clearly months." The AP adds Paulson said "the number of troubled banks will increase as they struggle to cope with big losses on bad mortgages." Paulson said, "But again, it's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation."
Paulson, appearing on CNN's Late Edition, insisted that "our banking system is a safe and a sound one. That there had been, I think, maybe five bank failures this year. When we're going through the housing crisis, S&L crisis, '82 through '92, there was an average of 250 bank failures a year."
U.S. News and World Report reports, "Despite recent test-firings of missiles and sporadic bursts of bluster by Tehran, there are growing indications that Iran might be preparing to accept preliminary talks about its nuclear program with a group of countries that includes the United States. It would hardly be the first time that tough actions or rhetoric presage diplomatic movement; such tactics are a time-honored method countries use to position themselves before any give-and-take begins."
Tehran Called "Quite Rattled" By Sanctions Newsweek interviews Dan Gillerman, Israel's outgoing ambassador to the UN. Gillerman said Israel should "do everything in its power, literally everything, to prevent that mad regime in Tehran...from achieving nuclear weapons." He added Iranian leaders "were quite rattled, not just by the sanctions, but mainly by the unanimity. I don't think Iran wants to be a pariah state."
Iran Upbeat On Nuclear Talks The Financial Times reports Iran on Sunday "put a positive gloss on the Geneva nuclear talks though its negotiators had shown little flexibility in a meeting with representatives from world powers, provoking threats of a fresh round of sanctions."
The Wall Street Journal reports EU foreign policy adviser, Javier Solana, speaking to reporters after Saturday's meeting, "said the two-week timeframe was meant to give Iran the space to come up with 'the answers that will allow us to continue.'" But in Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was "more blunt," saying: "We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only led to further isolation."
Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN's Late Edition taped Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained the US' decision to meet Iranian envoys to discuss that country's nuclear program. Rice said, "Well, let me very clear that the US demand for the suspension of uranium enrichment and reprocessing prior to negotiations stands." Rice added it was "really important to recognize that this is to reinforce a position that we've held since 2006."
Asked on CNN's Late Edition about former UN Ambassador John Bolton's remark that the Administration has made a "complete capitulation on the whole idea of suspending enrichment," Rice said, "John's a private citizen and he can say whatever he wants. But the issue here is sending the Iranians a strong message about American policy and the unity with our allies."
Mullen: I Don't Need "A Third War" Commenting on the recent news regarding a potential diplomatic breakthrough regarding Iran's nuclear program, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said that he has been "encouraged by the talks. A few weeks ago I wouldn't have thought those were possible. ... I fundamentally believe that they're on a path to achieve nuclear weapons some time in the future. I think that's a very destabilizing possibility in that part of the world. ... I worry about it a lot. I've said when I've been asked this before right now I'm fighting two wars, and I don't need a third one too -- I would be concerned -- not that I couldn't -- not that we don't have the reserve to do it in the United States."
US Said To Be Losing Hand The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol, on Fox News Sunday, said, "And so people have to face up to the fact that they want nuclear weapons, and either we're going to stop them, or someone else will stop them, or they'll get nuclear weapons. ... The downside of it is it sends a signal, in my view, of weakness and of retreat, and it strengthens the worst elements in Iran. That's the thing that I think they're not thinking enough about, frankly, in the State Department or the White House." Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, writes in the Wall Street Journal, "Diplomacy is not wrong, but President Bush's reversal is diplomatic malpractice on a Carter-esque level that is breathing new life into a failing regime."
ABC World News reports the "first military trial of an enemy combatant is scheduled to begin in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Salim Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, is accused of conspiracy and material support for terrorism." Hamdan "will make history" as "the first person since World War II tried by a US military tribunal for war crimes." But it's "taken years of legal battles, setbacks, and a landmark Supreme Court ruling for the system to get this far." Still, critics "question their fairness."
The Washington Post reports Hamdan "will face court proceedings unlike any the United States has seen in decades. They will unfold before a military commission...with a jury of uniformed officers and rules that give great deference to the prosecution. Evidence obtained from 'cruel' and 'inhuman' interrogation methods is admissible in certain circumstances, as is hearsay evidence."
AFP reports the US alleges that Hamdan, whose trial is expected to last two weeks, met Osama bin Laden "in the Afghan city of Kandahar in 1996 and 'ultimately became a bodyguard and personal driver' for the Al-Qaeda leader." The Christian Science Monitor says "it will be up to a panel of at least five US military officers to decide the case." Military Judge Keith Allred "will rule on procedural and legal issues and officiate over the introduction of testimony and evidence, but the verdict will come from the commission members."
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Jay Leno: "Well, yesterday, as you know, President Bush" toured "the fire-damaged parts of California with Governor Schwarzenegger. ... How does that help the people in the burn area, having Arnold and the President flying over, looking down? 'Yeah, you're right. This is burned. You're not liars.'"
Jay Leno: "See Barack Obama on the news? He's becoming a workout fanatic. He's at the gym, like, twice a day, sometimes three times a day at the gym, yeah, according to his staff. Well, he has to stay in shape to do those flip-flops."
Jay Leno: "Human rights activists have sent a letter to President Bush, asking him to raise human rights issues with the Chinese government during the Olympics. Unfortunately, they also sent a letter to the Chinese government asking them to bring up human rights issues with President Bush. So, it's pretty much a wash."
Jay Leno: "The Dalai Lama says while he loves President Bush, he feels President Bush has a lack of understanding about reality. And in response, President Bush said today, 'Yeah, right, like there's such a thing as a talking lama.'"
Conan O'Brien: "We're doing things a little differently tonight...because Sen. John McCain is here. ... You see, normally on Friday, we would tape our show at 4:30. But to accommodate Sen. McCain, we agreed to tape the show at 5:30. Yeah. Yeah, Sen. McCain wasn't available at 4:30 because that's when he eats dinner."
Conan O'Brien: "Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to President Bush's time in office as quote, 'a total failure.'" Bush "defended himself, saying, 'Oh, come on, I've hardly spent any time in my office.'"
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