21 January 2009

Early Bird summary

Wednesday’s Early Bird opens with a roundup of stories about Tuesday’s inauguration. A more comprehensive slate of these stories is contained in “Leading newspaper headlines” in today’s Media Summary below.
Both the New York Times and Washington Post carry stories published in yesterday’s Media Summary (via the BBC) reporting that Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said yesterday that the United States had reached agreements to open "additional logistical routes into Afghanistan" through its Central Asian neighbors to the north, reducing dependence on Pakistan as the main transit route for supplies to U.S. and NATO troops.Petraeus, the head of the U.S. Central Command, spoke to reporters in Pakistan before heading to Afghanistan, his last stop on a six-nation tour of the region. He is due in Washington today to attend a national security meeting this afternoon with President Obama.
Other noteworthy stories in today’s EB:
§ The New York Daily News carries a report published via wire services reporting that coalition troops killed 22 militants in a series of clashes across Afghanistan, and Pakistani forces took out another 38 in a separate offensive, officials said yesterday.In an operation 30 miles north of Kabul, troops killed a Taliban commander and 18 of his fighters Monday during a clash in Tagab Valley in Kapisa province, the statement said. Coalition troops detained eight suspected militants during the operation, it said.The coalition identified the dead commander as Mullah Patang and said that he carried out orders from senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
§ The Washington Post reports that the Iraqi government this week accused an Iranian opposition group of planning a suicide attack against Iraqi troops, a possible prelude to decisive government action to close the group's camp in Iraq and expel its members.The Mujaheddin-e Khalq, or MEK, on Tuesday denied Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie's allegation that it was planning an attack. Rubaie, who made the charge Monday during a visit to Tehran, offered no evidence to back up his assertion.
§ The Wall Street Journal reports that China's military says it needs to be stronger to face containment abroad and separatist threats at home, even as it said that relations with longtime rival Taiwan had improved.In a news conference Tuesday to discuss China's newly issued white paper on national defense, Col. Hu Changming, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said "the situation across the Taiwan Strait has taken a significant positive turn," the latest sign of warming ties. But despite that improvement in what has been its biggest potential hot spot, defense officials said China needs to continue to invest more in equipment, salaries and logistics to modernize its army to fend off other threats to national unity, including separatists in Tibet and in energy-rich Xinjiang.
§ A related article in the Seattle Times reports that China on Tuesday renewed its pledge never to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a military conflict, and senior military leaders vowed greater openness about the strengthening of the world's biggest armed forces.For the first time, the annual defense survey outlines how China would respond to a nuclear threat, saying that it would first put its nuclear arsenal on full alert, a move designed "to deter the enemy from using nuclear weapons against China." If an enemy nation fires nuclear missiles at China, the report says, China would "launch a resolute counter-attack."
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: Barack Hussein Obama took office as the 44th president of the United States yesterday and immediately vowed to "begin again the work of remaking America." (Slate Magazine)
2. Obama renews pledge to invest in military: President Barack Obama reaffirmed on Tuesday his pledge to invest in the U.S. military and review major weapons programs, vowing to end abuses and cost overruns in the current defense procurement system. (Reuters)
3. New Afghan civilian deaths probe: The US military in Afghanistan is investigating reports that up to 25 civilians were killed in an operation north of Kabul this week. (BBC)
4. Taleban kill six men for spying: Suspected Taleban militants have killed six men in north-west Pakistan after accusing them of spying for the United States, local officials say. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
Barack Hussein Obama took office as the 44th president of the United States yesterday and immediately vowed to "begin again the work of remaking America." It was a day of celebration in Washington and across the country as the son of a black immigrant and a white woman from Kansas moved into a White House that was partly built by slaves. USA Today says that around 1.8 million people packed Washington's National Mall to witness the nation's first nonwhite president take the oath of office. While everyone around him seemingly couldn't stop talking about the historical nature of the day, the New York Times points out that Obama made "only passing reference to his own barrier-breaking role in his 18-minute Inaugural Address," by pointing out that "a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."
For a man who catapulted into political royalty in large part thanks to his powerful speeches, Obama's inaugural address was "notable for its sober tone as much as its soaring rhetoric," observes the Washington Post. Indeed, throughout the address, Obama "leavened idealism with realism," as the Wall Street Journal puts it, and outlined the challenges that the country faces in what he called "this winter of our hardship." The Los Angeles Times notes that while there was lots of talk of the troubles ahead, "the heart of Obama's first address to the nation as its president was a rejection of the policies and values of his immediate predecessors."
Obama made clear that "his aspirations are among the largest of any president since Lyndon B. Johnson," notes the WP in an analysis piece inside. But he was very short on specifics beyond saying that the road ahead won't be easy and that Americans must pull together. Instead, as the LAT points out in a Page One analysis, he "spent a surprising amount of time drawing connections" between the problems that the country is now facing and politicians who were focused on what he described as "protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions."
When soon-to-be-former President Bush came out of the Capitol to take part in the inauguration ceremony, many spectators booed and at one point even sang, "Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye." For his part, Obama made sure to thank Bush for his service but then quickly "delivered what amounted to a searing indictment of the Bush presidency," says USAT in its analysis piece, which points out that the last time a new president "offered such a stinging critique" of his predecessor at an inauguration was in 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt told Americans that "the money-changers have fled." Most of the other papers pick up on this theme in their own analyses, and the NYT says that Obama's words "must have come as a bit of a shock" to Bush. He may not be a stranger to criticism, but "he had rarely been forced to sit in silence listening to a speech about how America had gone off the rails on his watch."
And at some points, he sounded like a father who wanted his children to stop being so immature: "In the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things," Obama said in words that made it seem as though he were belittling "what had come before him as frivolous," as the LAT puts it. The NYT points out that throughout his address, Obama signaled that he's ready "to embrace pragmatism, not just as a governing strategy but also as a basic value."
In a line that USAT says "brought a gasp and applause" from the audience, Obama declared, "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." But he was also forceful in his message on terrorism, vowing to defeat "those who seek to advance their aims by … slaughtering innocents." At the same time, he pledged to "seek a new way forward" with Muslims "based on mutual interest and mutual respect."
The WSJ notes that some Republicans weren't happy with Obama's criticisms of the Bush administration in his address. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said the comments "detracted from the overall high tone of the speech."
The NYT points out that there were times when Obama seemed "to be having a virtual dialogue with his predecessors." When Obama said that "what is required of us now is a new era of responsibility," he was picking up on a theme that both George Bush and Bill Clinton talked about at their inaugurations. In 1981, Ronald Regan declared that "government is the problem," while in 1997, Bill Clinton retorted by saying that "government is not the problem and government is not the solution." Yesterday, Obama seemed ready to throw out that old formula, saying that the important question isn't "whether our government is too big or too small but whether it works."
Everyone notes that Obama didn't actually recite the oath of office correctly. Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts may be constitutional experts, but they had problems getting in sync. First, Obama started to recite the words before Chief Justice John Roberts had finished saying the first phrase. But the real problem occurred when Roberts, who was administering the oath for the first time, clearly made a mistake that caused Obama to say he will "execute the Office of President of the United States faithfully" instead of "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States." Coincidentally (?) it was the first time any chief justice had sworn in a president who had voted against his confirmation. While constitutional experts agree the mistake was insignificant, they say a do-over wouldn't hurt and could help avoid some legal headaches in the future.
After the inaugural ceremony ended, President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush left via helicopter to Texas, and the Obama administration got to work. The new president appointed his Cabinet as his first official act, and the Senate quickly approved seven of the nominees but delayed the confirmation of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. As expected, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel ordered federal agencies to stop all work on pending regulations until the new administration can review them. The WP also reports that Obama ordered military prosecutors to ask for a 120-day pause in all pending cases at Guantanamo. Military judges don't have to automatically grant the requests, but the move is seen as the first step toward closing the facility that came to define much of Bush's presidency.
Almost as if to underscore the troubles that Obama referred to in his address, the financial crisis reared its ugly head once more and sent stocks plunging as much of Washington was celebrating. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 4 percent of its value in what was the index's worst Inauguration Day performance in its 124-year history. Banking stocks were the big losers as some of the biggest names in the industry plummeted. Overall, shares of U.S. banks decreased about 20 percent "to their lowest level in more than a decade," notes the WSJ.
The WP explains that investors were quick to press the sell button as "fresh evidence mounted that the industry's problems are larger than previously understood," and current government efforts may not be enough to make things better. Investors fear that Obama will chose to nationalize some banks and wipe out stockholders in the process. Although it is widely seen as a last resort, the fact that nationalization is viewed as a distinct possibility "reflects the failures of repeated government interventions to stem a widening crisis of confidence in the banking system," reports the WSJ. The Obama administration insists it won't be rushed into detailing a plan, but officials know that they have to deal with these huge bank losses if they hope to thaw the frozen credit markets.
The NYT's Thomas Friedman writes that he hopes "Obama really is a closet radical," because it's "a moment for radical departures from business as usual in so many areas." It's rare that a politician really has a chance to change the system, but now it's "impossible to exaggerate how much our future depends on a radical departure from our present." Obama needs to take risks and be willing to consider new ways to make the country, and the world, a better place. "The hour is late, the project couldn't be harder, the stakes couldn't be higher, the payoff couldn't be greater."

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Obama renews pledge to invest in military

By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama reaffirmed on Tuesday his pledge to invest in the U.S. military and review major weapons programs, vowing to end abuses and cost overruns in the current defense procurement system.
The White House posted a list of defense priorities on its website shortly after Obama's inauguration, mentioning by name Boeing Co's (BA.N) C-17 transport aircraft and a multibillion dollar program to replace the Air Force's refueling planes.
The administration said it would build up special operations forces; expand the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000; and end the current stop-loss policy.
Obama also stressed the need to renew U.S. alliances with other countries and strengthen them.
Much of the material was very similar to items posted on the Obama campaign and transition websites, but experts said it was important the key issues were being repeated by the White House now that Obama was in power.
The administration also said it would review each major weapons program in light of current needs, gaps in the field and likely future threat scenarios in the post-9/11 world.
In an apparent nod to big-ticket F-22 and F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), the administration said the United States needed to preserve its "unparalleled airpower capabilities" to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, respond to crises across the globe and support ground forces.
"We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power." it said.
Boeing is vying against Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N)-led team that includes Europe's EADS (EAD.PA) for a multibillion dollar deal to replace the aging fleet of KC-135 tankers.
In addition, the United States needed to replace aging ships and modernize existing ones, while adapting them to the 21st century. Northrop and General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) are the nation's largest shipbuilders, but Lockheed also builds smaller, shore-hugging combat ships.
The administration said it would increase the size of the Navy's Maritime Pre-Positioning Force Squadrons to support operations ashore and invest in smaller, more capable ships.
Missile defense would be supported, it said, but in a way that was pragmatic and cost-effective and did not divert resources from other national security priorities it was certain the current technology would work.
The administration also said it would seek to restore U.S. leadership on space issues with a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites.
It pledged to assess possible threats to U.S. space assets and the best options for countering them, including contingency plans to ensure access to information from space assets or speeding up efforts to harden U.S. satellites against attack.
The website also cited concerns about emerging cyber- threats and said Washington would cooperate with its allies and the private sector in this area.
The Pentagon would also put a greater emphasis on transparency and accountability in government contracting.
"They will create the transparency and accountability needed for good governance, and establish the legal status of contractor personnel, making possible prosecution of any abuses committed by private military contractors," the website said.
Finally, the administration said it would seek to reform defense contracting by ending no-bid contracts, hiring more contract officers and improving oversight of wartime spending.
"The Obama-Biden Administration will realize savings by reducing the corruption and cost overruns that have become all too routine in defense contracting," it said. "They will order the Justice Department to prioritize prosecutions that will punish and deter fraud, waste and abuse." (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Andre Grenon)
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New Afghan civilian deaths probe
Villagers had claimed civilians were killed in the attack in Kapisa
The US military in Afghanistan is investigating reports that up to 25 civilians were killed in an operation north of Kabul this week.
The US had said a Taleban commander and 18 militants died in Kapisa province.
US Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus has been meeting President Hamid Karzai, who has urged Western troops to reduce civilian casualties.
New US President Barack Obama has backed a 30,000-strong troop surge for Afghanistan this year.
His inauguration has been generally welcomed on the streets of Kabul, although a top Taleban spokesman has again reportedly warned Western troops to leave the country.
Separately, violence continued on Wednesday when a suicide car bomb attack on an Afghan military convoy left two soldiers dead in the west of the country.
'Popular support'
The US military had said Tuesday's operation in Kapisa, 50km (30 miles) north of Kabul, killed a key Taleban commander, Mullah Patang.
On Wednesday, US spokesman Col Greg Julian said the coalition would investigate villagers' claims that 25 civilians had been killed.
Deputy police chief for Kapisa, Naimatullah Hakimi, said meetings had been held with elders to find out who died and he insisted that "no civilians were killed".
The news of the investigation comes only a day after Mr Karzai addressed the Afghan parliament and once again urged US-led and Nato troops to do more to reduce civilian casualties.
Mr Karzai, who is due to face a presidential election this year, said the fight against militants could not be won without popular support from Afghans.
"We don't accept civilian casualties in our land in the war on terrorism," he told parliament.

Kabul's citizens give their views on President Barack Obama
In pictures
Late on Tuesday Mr Karzai met Gen Petraeus, who had arrived from a trip to Pakistan where he announced a new supply route to Afghanistan had been agreed with Russia and Central Asian states. The Pakistan route has suffered militant attacks.
Mr Karzai's office said he had again stressed to Gen Petraeus the need to avoid civilian casualties.
Mr Karzai also called for Afghan forces to be boosted with training and equipment and said the trust of the Afghan people must be won, the office said.
President Barack Obama has said Afghanistan is one of his top priorities.
The 30,000 extra troops will join 33,000 US and 32,000 other Nato troops already in the country.
'Leave Afghanistan'
President Karzai said Mr Obama's inauguration was the start of a "promising new era of understanding" between Kabul and Washington.
The inauguration was also welcomed by many ordinary Afghans on the streets of Kabul.
Hamid Karzai has urged a reduction in civilian casualties
The BBC's Bilal Sarwary says there was a sense of jubilation among many he spoke to.
Labourer Mohammad Gul said: "I have a lot of hope from Obama. Each time he talks on television, he seems like a honest person. Bush came across as bad guy in the movies.''
Eighteen-year-old Akmal said: "Obama is a very likeable president... I am hoping that he will help our army, police and government."
But the new president was also given a warning by a spokesman for the Taleban.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP news agency that Mr Obama should pull out Western troops.
"We have no problem with Obama. However he must learn lessons from [former US president George W Bush] and before that the Soviets," he said.
"The only solution is that they leave Afghanistan."
Mr Ahmadi is a regular spokesman for the Taleban but analysts say the organisation is no longer a single entity in Afghanistan and has many different groups.
In Wednesday's suicide attack, two Afghan soldiers were killed when the bomber detonated his explosives next to an army vehicle in Herat province, the defence ministry said.


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'Taleban kill six men for spying'
Suspected Taleban militants have killed six men in north-west Pakistan after accusing them of spying for the United States, local officials say.
The bodies were found on roads in Miranshah and neighbouring Mir Ali in North Waziristan.
The lawless region is known to be a hub of Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.
At least 15 people have been killed by suspected militants in the region in the past two weeks for allegedly spying for US forces or Pakistan.
The total in North and South Waziristan over the past six years is now more than 100.

Officials told the BBC Urdu service two of those killed were local tribesmen, while two were Afghan nationals from the eastern province of Khost.
The remaining two men were Pakistani nationals from Karak district in North West Frontier Province, they said.
Written notes found on the bodies said the men were punished for spying for US troops operating in Afghanistan.
The notes warned people not to remove the bodies until the end of the day so that people could see how the life of a "spy" would end, an official said.
In recent weeks, local Taleban groups have claimed responsibility for such killings, saying the men killed were instrumental in guiding US drone attacks on militant camps in the region.
They say the killings have led to a reduction in the frequency of the drone attacks.


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