Tensions between India and Pakistan are reaching new highs following Wednesday night's brutal terror strikes in Mumbai. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reports "the terrorist strikes in Mumbai are likely to intensify pressure on President-elect Barack Obama to craft a regional solution to the instability in South and Central Asia." Under President Bush, "the US has improved ties with India, and the two countries completed a nuclear-cooperation deal this year. US relations with Pakistan also have been on a modest upswing, with American officials citing better collaboration in fighting al Qaeda in lawless Pakistani border areas." The Journal adds "a big concern for the US now is that a war of words with India could divert Pakistan's attention from the fight against al Qaeda and Taliban forces that have found havens in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan." Along similar lines, the New York Times says "attacks as devastating as those that unfolded in Mumbai...seem likely to sour relations, fuel distrust and hamper, at least for now, America's ambitions for reconciliation in the region." In the Wall Street Journal, Prashant Agrawal, "CEO of Indipepal.com, an Indian Social Portal launching in December," writes, "Joe Biden was right, Barack Obama will face an international test in the first six months. South Asia looks to be that test."
As USA Today reports, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a televised address that "the attackers probably had 'external linkages' -- an apparent reference to rival Pakistan." The Wall Street Journal notes Singh also "issued a thinly veiled threat," saying "'there would be a cost' unless neighboring governments take steps to ensure that terrorists aren't operating from inside their borders." Analysts are cautioning that nothing definite is yet known about the authorship of the attacks, but a number of media reports suggest the terrorists may have worked out of Pakistan. The Washington Post, for example, reports on its front page that "officials in India, Europe and the United States said likely culprits included Islamist networks based in Pakistan that have received support in the past from Pakistan's intelligence agencies." The Post also reports that "some experts said the operation bore some resemblances to plots orchestrated by al-Qaeda," while "others said they were dubious of a connection to Osama bin Laden's organization."
AFP notes "local reports...that a Pakistani militant who was among three gunmen detained had told investigators that a group of 12 attackers were dropped at sea and had reached Mumbai in a small speedboat." While "home ministry sources said two Pakistani ships had been detained off the Indian coast...the government in Islamabad fiercely denied any involvement," and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the Financial Times reports, described the attacks as "detestable." However, says the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, AP and New York Times run additional stories on the attacks.
The New York Times reports from Baghdad, "With a substantial majority, the Iraqi Parliament on Thursday ratified a sweeping security agreement that sets the course for an end to the United States' role in the war and marks the beginning of a new relationship between the countries." The pact's "passage, on a vote of 149 to 35, according to a parliamentary statement, was a victory for Iraq's government." The Washington Post notes "Iraq's feuding sects came together to vote in a rare show of unity," adding the pact "requires the US military to end its presence in Iraq in 2011, eight years after a US-led invasion brought about the fall of Saddam Hussein." It also "restricts the powers of the US military to search homes, detain Iraqi citizens and conduct military operations, and gives Iraqi officials oversight over American forces."
The Wall Street Journal reports the White House "hailed the Iraqi Parliament's passage Thursday of the pact, which will begin to bring the long, US-led war in Iraq to a close and allow President George W. Bush to claim a diplomatic victory shortly before he leaves office." The vote also "gives a boost to President-elect Barack Obama, effectively enshrining into law with modest modifications his main policy proposal for Iraq: to withdraw American combat forces by the middle of 2010."
McClatchy reports, "In a country where agreements are hard to reach," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "built a broad political coalition to muscle through a divisive US-Iraq security pact that could set his place in his nation's history as the man who ended the American occupation." Last night, "he took the mantle of a nationalist" in his televised remarks," in what amounts to "a major role change" for him, "who came to power in 2006 as a sectarian Shiite lawmaker propped up by a tenuous coalition of political blocs." But "he has taken an increasingly assertive role as Iraq's leader since March, when he launched a military offensive in Basra against Shiite militias loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr."
The Financial Times, meanwhile, notes "the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has been unusually silent about the Iraqi government's approval of the security pact with the US. But that may be because it has been loathe to publicise its dramatic change of attitude towards the agreement." The Times adds "people close to the government in Tehran said that after initially opposing it and asking its Shia allies in the Baghdad government to resist it Tehran has been relatively satisfied with the last-minute changes demanded, and won, by Iraq." The Los Angeles Times, AFP and AP, among other news outlets, also reports on the vote.
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The Politico reports from Chicago, "More than three weeks into the transition, and Vice-president elect Joe Biden generates less buzz." Biden "has not spoken publicly since the election, and was at Barack Obama's side just once this week as the president-elect delivered a series of grim news conferences on the economy." Obama "instead appears to be at the center of his longtime Chicago circle." It is "a precipitous drop in profile from just three months ago, when 47-year-old Obama, dogged by critics who deemed him an elitist who lacked experience, selected as his running mate Biden, a foreign-policy expert who'd been in the Senate since his new boss was in elementary school, but still rode Amtrak to work." The Politico also profiles Biden's wife Jill, who "has long chartered an untraditional path for a career politician' wife." She holds "four degrees -- a bachelor's, two master's and a doctorate. She raised three children and has five grandchildren. For 31 years she's been married to a US Senator, although few of her students at a Delaware community college knew it." Now she "could become one of the nation's few second ladies to hold down a job while her husband occupies the office of the vice presidency."
Rove Praises Obama's Economic Picks Karl Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal this morning, "When President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition team met this month, everyone was there -- inflation fighters, business leaders, union firebrands and leftist economists -- creating confusion about where the new administration was headed." But "Obama's announcement of his economic team on Monday provided surprisingly positive clarity." Rove goes on to call Obama's choice for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, "respected", says National Economic Council director-designee Larry Summers is "another solid pick," and praises the selection of a "respected monetary expert -- Christina Romer -- to head up his Council of Economic Advisors." Moreover, adds Rove, Obama "selected a first-rate thinker, Peter Orszag, to be director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget."
The Washington Times reports in its "Washington In Five Minutes" section, "President Bush is relishing the chance to see 'the klieg lights shift somewhere else,' although he admits he'll miss perks like White House cooking and flying on Air Force One." In an "intimate family conversation with his sister, Doro Bush Koch, about how he'll feel when he leaves the White House to make way for Barack Obama on Jan. 20," which was "recorded for the oral-history organization StoryCorps," Bush said, "Frankly, I'm not going to miss the limelight all that much." The remarks "aired Thursday on National Public Radio's 'Morning Edition.'"
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The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported yesterday that "Democrat Al Franken suffered a setback Wednesday when the state Canvassing Board unanimously turned down his campaign's request to include rejected absentee ballots in the US Senate recount, prompting a Franken attorney to threaten to go all the way to Washington if necessary to get them considered." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, "termed the Canvassing Board's decision 'cause for great concern' and called on Minnesota officials to 'ensure that no voter is disenfranchised.'" Cullen Sheehan, campaign manager for Sen. Norm Coleman, "asked Franken to accept the recount results if he loses, and to promise Minnesotans 'that he will not allow this election to be overturned by the leadership of the Democratic Senate.'"
The AP noted that for the first time, the Franken campaign "openly discussed mounting challenges after the hand recount involving Franken and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman concludes. That includes the possibility of drawing the Senate into the fracas." Marc Elias, "the legal chief for Franken, said the campaign won't appeal the board's ruling but it could seek intervention of another kind once the recount wraps up. 'Whether it is at the county level, before the Canvassing Board, before the courts or before the United States Senate, we don't know yet. But we remain confident these votes will be counted,' Elias said."
Coleman's Edge At 282 Votes The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported, "With 88 percent of the vote recounted by Wednesday night and the number of challenged ballots surpassing 5,600, Coleman's advantage over Franken was 282 votes, according to a Star Tribune compilation of results reported to the Secretary of State's office and gathered by the newspaper. That was 67 more votes than the margin Coleman held at the start of the recount. His campaign had challenged 147 more ballots than Franken's."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported "Former Democratic US Sen. Zell Miller said Wednesday that incumbent Republican US Sen. Saxby Chambliss is the 'last man standing' to prevent a 'far-left agenda' from sailing though the US Senate." Miller "spoke to about 200 people at a luncheon rally for Chambliss, who faces Atlanta Democrat Jim Martin on Dec. 2 in a hotly contested runoff that could tilt the balance of power in the upper chamber of the US Congress." In Atlanta, "Martin dismissed Miller's endorsement at a Wednesday afternoon press conference where the Democratic candidate was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers. 'Gov. Miller has lost his rudder,' Martin said. 'No one knows where he stands.'"
"Interest Groups" Weigh In USA Today reports, "Republicans are pouring millions into Georgia's Senate runoff contest in the final days of the race as they try to prevent Democrats from adding to their Election Day gains. ... Both candidates are aggressively fundraising, but ...Chambliss is benefiting more from interest groups and large donors than Democratic challenger Jim Martin. A USA TODAY analysis of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows" Chambliss "raised $1.6 million in large contributions -- amounts of $1,000 or more -- from Nov. 13 through Nov. 21 compared with $462,000 for Martin. ... Independent groups such as the National Rifle Association's political action committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee spent $2.5 million from Nov. 8 through Nov. 26 in support of Chambliss -- more than twice what outside groups have spent for Martin."
The Washington Times reports, "Despite his looming trial on federal bribery charges, Louisiana Democratic Rep. William J. Jefferson hasn't had any trouble raising money from his allies in Congress. Since his June 2007 indictment, Mr. Jefferson has raised more than a quarter-million dollars in political donations to retain the House seat he's held since 1990." The funds include "tens of thousands of dollars from political action committees controlled by other members of Congress. He's also gotten help from labor union PACs." Jefferson's fundraising success "contrasts with how politicians reacted after the indictment of Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in August. Several Republican senators, including defeated presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, announced at the time that contributions received from Mr. Stevens would go to charity. ... By contrast, members of Congress have been coming to Mr. Jefferson's aid."
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David Letterman: "Down in Washington, D.C., Vice President Dick Cheney is in the Thanksgiving spirit. Right now he is hooked up to intravenous gravy."
Craig Ferguson: "I like Thanksgiving because you can eat dinner 2:00 in the afternoon. For one day, I get to feel like John McCain."
Craig Ferguson: "President Bush pardoned a turkey yesterday. Only because the turkey signed a confession after Cheney tortured it."
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