McClatchy reports that after "hearing a 'drumbeat' for more troops," White House National Security Adviser James L. Jones has "told US commanders in Afghanistan that they won't get any more troops this year beyond what" President Obama "already has promised." Jones "told McClatchy in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he'd told commanders on the ground that the time for debate was over three months ago and that it's time to implement the new three-step plan with the troops already committed, plus a renewed emphasis on economic development and the rule of law." Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "said yesterday that no limits have been placed on the number or types of troops the new US commander in Afghanistan can request as he seeks to carry out a counterinsurgency strategy there."
The discrepancy comes as the AP reports, "Thousands of US Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops moved into Taliban-infested villages with armor and helicopters Wednesday evening in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's revamped strategy to stabilize Afghanistan." Dubbed "Operation Khanjar, or 'Strike of the Sword,' the military push was described by officials as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase."
The Washington Post says "the operation will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was dispatched to Afghanistan earlier this year by...Obama to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces." The New York Times reports that "Helmand is one of the deadliest provinces in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters have practiced a sleek, hit-and-run guerrilla warfare against the British forces who have been based there."
US Troops To Limit Risks To Civilians McClatchy, meanwhile, reports that beginning today, "American soldiers in Afghanistan will be under orders to back down when they're chasing Taliban fighters whenever they think that civilians might be at risk." Gen. Stanley McChrystal "will issue the directive as part of an effort to cut down on civilian casualties, which have enraged the Afghan government and residents."
President Obama's town hall meeting on healthcare reform generated extensive but decidedly mixed media coverage, including reports on all three network newscasts. NBC Nightly News reported that "with Congress in recess, the President is trying to move this healthcare debate out of Washington."
While a number of reports focused on the "emotional" nature of the event, USA Today says that it "lacked the energetic free-for-all quality of the town hall sessions Obama held during the campaign." The Washington Post says "with the president's health-care ambitions meeting a cool reception on Capitol Hill, the administration is increasingly seeking to pressure lawmakers with evidence of the public's desire for action."
The Politico reports "two of the three audience questions came from two groups that are largely supportive of the president, Health Care for America Now and the Service Employees International Union." The Washington Times described the event as a "tightly controlled town-hall meeting," and Fox News' Special Report noted that it featured "a pre-screened audience and pre-screened questions." However, "the White House wanted to show so-called dissenting views made it into the program."
The CBS Evening News focused on "an emotional moment" at the event, when "a 53-year-old cancer patient described her battle to get treatment she can afford." Smith "is a volunteer for Mr. Obama's political operation Organizing for America. The White House invited her to attend."
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Obama "is signaling flexibility on many of his previous stances as he tries to put a health-care deal together." The White House "isn't ruling out the possibility that families earning less than $250,000 a year might see higher taxes if they have generous health benefits that become subject to new taxes." CNN's The Situation Room reported that a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows "the public is divided on the President's plan, with 51 percent saying they favor it and 45 percent opposing, similar to the split Bill Clinton faced before his health plan failed."
Roll Call reports a Quinnipiac University poll shows "that by a showing of 52 percent to 42 percent, respondents agreed with a central argument that Obama has used to sell the idea of a government-run insurance option." But "by a response of 58 percent to 32 percent, respondents said that government-run health care generally would be a 'bad thing.'"
Obama At Ebb During Critical Moment For Agenda On U.S. News and World Report's website, Kenneth T. Walsh wrote that the President's "healthcare plans have stalled on Capitol Hill; he is being faulted for a shaky response to the post-election violence in Iran; his job-approval ratings are dropping; and confidence in his handling of the economy is ebbing. The warning signs are enough to worry Democratic strategists that Obama may be sinking into a trough that will sap his influence just when he needs it most."
On its front page, the Financial Times reports that Obama "is gearing up for the most decisive phase of his presidency when the fate of his core legislative proposals will show whether he is capable of taming Washington or whether Washington will tame him."
The Washington Post reports on its front page that Saddam Hussein "told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran, according to declassified accounts of the interviews released yesterday." Hussein "also denounced Osama bin Laden as 'a zealot' and said he had no dealings with al-Qaeda." Transcripts show Hussein "said he felt so vulnerable to the perceived threat from 'fanatic' leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a 'security agreement with the United States to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region.'"
Regarding 9/11, the Washington Times reports Saddam said his vice president, Tariq Aziz, "wrote two personal letters to condemn" the attacks, and that "the FBI, according to the transcript, speculated that one...was sent to former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who later represented Saddam at his trial in Iraq."
Details Of One Interview Withheld The Washington Post notes that the "detailed accounts of the interviews were released with few deletions, though one, a last formal interview on May 1, 2004, was completely redacted." Thomas S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, "said he could conceive of no national security reason to keep Hussein's conversations with the FBI secret."
CNN's The Situation Room reported the Obama Administration "is actively looking for loopholes in" the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law, "ways that they could allow some openly gay troops to still serve, without actually repealing" the legislation. Defense Secretary Robert Gates "for the first time" is "looking at ways to selectively enforce the ban on openly gay troops."
The Washington Times reports, "The Pentagon signaled it was aiming for a temporary fix to 'don't ask, don't tell' before President Obama fulfills his promise to repeal the policy, as an Arabic translator was dismissed from the Army Wednesday for being openly gay."
The Los Angeles Times reports, "The congressional effort to reverse the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays and lesbians in the military has landed on the desk of Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.), an Iraq war veteran and Bronze Star recipient who Democrats hope will give the legislation new momentum in the House." The Times adds that "public opinion appears to side with changing the policy. A Gallup poll in May found that 69% of Americans favored allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. About a quarter of respondents -- 26% -- were opposed."
The White House yesterday issued a report to Congress detailing the salaries of President Obama's aides. In its "44" blog, the Washington Post reports that "twenty-two of the president's top aides...make exactly" $172,000 "in exchange for their service to the country, the White House reported to Congress today." However, the "vast bulk of the employees appear to earn between $40,000 and $55,000 per year, making the White House quite a modestly paid enterprise for most of the workaholics who spend time there."
The Politico's "44" blog also reports the story, noting that "White House senior advisers David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett all cap out at $172,200. Ditto for Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Communications Director Anita Dunn. The real pay day surprise on the list: Jon Favreau, the director of speechwriting, who also brings home $172,200."
The Wall Street Journal reports in a front page story that spending by lawmakers "on taxpayer-financed trips abroad" also known as congressional delegations or the abbreviated "codels" "has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galapagos Islands." Overseas travel spending "is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago."
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Pressure is increasing on South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) to step down. The AP reports that SC3 Rep. Gresham Barrett (R), a gubernatorial candidate, "has become the first South Carolina congressman" to ask Sanford to resign, "saying people have lost confidence in him after his extramarital affair was revealed." The Greenville (SC) News adds Barrett said, "I've had two long conversations with Gov. Sanford in the past two days. Yesterday and today I told him what I believe to be the painful truth: The situation had spiraled out of control. It continues to spiral by the minute." McClatchy reports that with various degrees of qualification, such South Carolina officials as state Sen. Tom Davis (R), senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R) are hinting that Sanford "should consider stepping down after admitting to an affair."
Meanwhile, The State reports that Sanford "left the Governor's Mansion without a security escort" 38 times in 2008 and 39 times in the first six months of this year. Sanford's travel is now drawing scrutiny because of his security-free trip to Argentina last month, and while "each governor chooses how much protection he wants," Sanford "has been among the most resistant to personal protection in recent administrations, sources familiar with gubernatorial security have said."
The AP reports that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D) "has decided to challenge" New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), with a newly-hired campaign aide saying she believes the state needs a "strong, experienced and independent leader." Long Island Newsday says that Maloney "is bucking the Democratic establishment, including the White House," the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D). However, Maloney "is buoyed by last week's Quinnipiac Poll showing her leading Gillibrand by four percentage points before Maloney even begins to run as a candidate," an aide said. The New York Daily News reports that "Gillibrand's supporters" on Wednesday "pressured" Maloney "to change her mind," but "aides say Maloney is unswayed - and committed to the race."
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that in the wake of his loss to Al Franken (D), former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman (R) may now be eyeing his state's open gubernatorial contest. The Star Tribune adds that though some Republicans consider Coleman's bid to be "inevitable," the former senator "is seen as a candidate with big pluses and minuses. His likely gubernatorial competitors say his name recognition and proven fundraising ability make him formidable. His legal fight against Franken won admirers across the state" GOP's "base, which will play a large role in choosing a gubernatorial nominee." Similarly, the AP says some Republicans say Coleman "actually improved his standing with the GOP base by fighting to the end even as Franken's victory seemed an increasingly foregone conclusion."
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