Early Bird Summary
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday leads Wednesday’s Early Bird, with the Washington Post (echoed in reports from the Los Angeles Times and Financial Times) reporting that Gates signaled sharply lower expectations for the war in Afghanistan, warning the conflict will be "a long slog" and that U.S. and allied military forces, even at higher levels, can achieve limited goals.
Gates said the U.S. military expects to be able to send three additional combat brigades -- between 10,000 and 12,000 troops -- to Afghanistan between late spring and midsummer to address a security vacuum "that increasingly has been filled by the Taliban."
The Miami Herald, meanwhile, reports that Gates says he is troubled by Iranian activities in
Gates didn't say just what he thinks
Gates shrugged off Russian naval tours in places like
European Stars and Stripes focused on Gates’ comments about longer dwell times, reporting Gates’ remarks that combat troops should get 15 months home for every 12 months deployed by October, and 30 months dwell time by October 2011.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates said the anticipated drawdown in
"I think we’re on the right track, though the next few months will continue to be hard," he said.
The New York Times reports that President Obama intends to adopt a tougher line toward Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, as part of a new American approach to
Mr. Karzai is now seen as a potential impediment to American goals in
Other noteworthy articles in Wednesday’s EB:
§ The Washington Post reports that President Obama has launched a determined effort to change the tone, if not yet the substance, of U.S. relations with the Arab and Muslim worlds, saying he is eager to listen to their concerns and acknowledging that Americans "have not been perfect" in their dealings with them.
The early appointments of presidential emissaries to the Middle East and to Afghanistan and Pakistan; the announced closure of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; the choice of Arab satellite network al-Arabiya for the first formal interview of his presidency; first-week National Security Council meetings on Iraq and Afghanistan; and telephone calls to regional leaders on his first full day in office were reflections both of the seriousness of the issues and a message to governments and the public, administration officials said.
§ The Associated Press reports that William J. Lynn, who was chosen to be deputy defense secretary, has pledged to sell his stock in the Waltham-based company before taking the job. Senate Democrats and Republicans initially balked at
Financial disclosure documents obtained yesterday by the Associated Press show Lynn owns Raytheon "incentive" stock valued between $500,001 and $1 million that is set to vest in February, plus "unvested restricted stock" valued between $250,001 and $500,000.
§ The Washington Post reports that The nation's top military officer said Tuesday the United States did all it could to intercept a suspected arms shipment to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, but its hands were tied.
Separately, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other
Mullen confirmed that a Cypriot-flagged ship intercepted in the Red Sea last week was carrying Iranian arms and that
§ Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that
Sketching out an ambitious diplomatic agenda, Mrs. Clinton also suggested that there could be some form of direct communication between the
§ The London Daily Telegraph reports that
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said
“This year, it’s very likely that Iran will have produced enough low-enriched uranium which, if further enriched, could constitute enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon, if that is the route Iran so desires,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, the senior fellow for non-proliferation at the IISS.
§ London Times reports
The recent naval manoeuvres in the Mediterranean and
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: All the papers give front-page play to the massive economic stimulus package that will come up for a vote in the House today, which USA Today says is President Obama's "first test of the bipartisanship he pledged in his campaign." (Slate Magazine)
2. USMC Chief talks Obama, JSF, MRAPs: The U.S. Marines investigated President Barack Obama before the election -- and they say they are encouraged by what they found, according to the Marine commandant. (Aviation Week)
3. Iranian leader demands U.S. ‘apology’:
4. Russia halts ‘missile deployment’:
5. Children in Swat face bleak future: Many families in Swat district, in Pakistan's embattled north-west, are packing up and leaving after Islamist militants began attacking schools, reports the BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who is travelling in the region. (BBC)
6. Vietnam Wall coming to county: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Moving Wall is coming to Murphy in October. (Cherokee Scout, N.C.)
7. Gibson lived to tell tale of bloody Battle of Hill 881: The Battle of Hill 881 was one of the bloodiest battles during the Vietnam War and as a forward air controller, Ron Gibson of Shenandoah was in the thick of things with other members of the 226 (2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Corps). (Valley News Today, Shenandoah, Iowa)
All the papers give front-page play to the massive economic stimulus package that will come up for a vote in the House today, which USA Today says is President Obama's "first test of the bipartisanship he pledged in his campaign." Obama visited Capitol Hill yesterday to urge Republican lawmakers to support the $825 billion stimulus plan, but most Republicans are still unconvinced even as they were careful to praise the president for listening to their concerns. The New York Times goes with a two-story lead examining the stimulus package's effect on education as well as a look at how the bill would provide Democrats a fast-track way to fund many initiatives that have long been priorities for the party. The Wall Street Journal points out that the Senate version of the bill is now getting close to reaching the $900 billion mark.
The Washington Post leads with a look at how Obama's advisers are discussing several options to prop up the nation's financial system. They're all bound to be unpopular and, as a bonus, there's absolutely no guarantee that any of them will work. It seems the White House will try a combination of several programs instead of hoping that one plan provides the magic touch, which raises the risk that the response will be seen as haphazard. None of the ideas being discussed is new: a federal protection against losses backed by mortgages and loans, a new institution to buy up toxic assets, and an injection of taxpayer money into troubled firms in exchange for ownership, which could result in "nationalization in all but name." The Los Angeles Times leads with data that show more than 236,000 homes went into foreclosure in California last year, which is more than the previous nine years combined, and a record 404,000 borrowers defaulted on their payments. While previous foreclosures could mostly be blamed on people who took on mortgages they couldn't afford, now it looks like many of those who are defaulting are doing so because of the loss of a job or income in a state that now has 9.3 percent unemployment.
Obama spent almost three hours yesterday in separate meetings with House and Senate Republicans where he urged them to come together to support the stimulus package. "I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now," Obama said. But Republican lawmakers were unconvinced. Republican lawmakers said the plan was too expensive and complained that Democratic congressional leaders had shut them out of the process. The White House made it clear that it is ready to compromise on some issues, and Democrats said they would drop a provision from the House bill that would have increased funding for contraception and family planning services. The administration also suggested it would agree to a $69 billion proposal that would allow millions of Americans to avoid having to pay the so-called alternative minimum tax, which was folded into the Senate version of the bill.
The package that House members are expected to vote on today includes $550 billion in spending, and $275 billion in tax cuts. Obama once again told Republicans he's willing to consider including more tax cuts for small businesses, but most GOP lawmakers signaled that wouldn't be enough to change their minds. Regardless, the Democratic majority in Congress makes it virtually certain that the package will be approved. Even if he didn't win them over yesterday, Obama may have wanted to build goodwill for a later date. The WP notes inside that the stimulus "represents the first step" in a "complex process that could cost many hundreds of billions in additional funding, and is likely to require Republican cooperation."
The WP's Dana Milbank says that while Obama "ushered in the post-partisan era" last week, it now looks like "the post-post-partisan era is already upon us."
In one of its lead stories, the NYT details that the $150 billion in new federal spending on "nearly every realm of education" would "more than double the Department of Education's current budget." This massive influx of aid has the potential to dramatically change the role that the federal government plays in education, an area normally controlled by state and local governments. Many are also raising concerns about how school districts will be able to spend so much money so quickly and wonder what will happen when the money ends in two years.
The NYT also notes that the stimulus package isn't simply a way to provide a boost to the economy, but also a way for Democrats to rewrite "the social contract with the poor, the uninsured and the unemployed, in ways they have long yearned to do." Quite simply, the package would allow Democrats to quickly fund programs without hearings or a protracted debate.
That's not to say all Democrats are happy with the stimulus package. In a front-page piece, the WP says some Democrats think Obama is losing a golden opportunity to remake the American economy. Some say the plan should be split into two parts, one to provide immediate stimulus and the other, which would take longer to formulate, to look into ways that the economy can be transformed. "We need to think of it as a first step," Rep. Jay Inslee said. "The question is: Are we going to step up to the plate to sustain this effort?" The problem is that many Democrats fear that the appetite for new initiatives will wane after the stimulus bill passes.
"It's raining money," said Republican Rep. Michael C. Burgess. And all that cash has resulted in what the WSJ calls "a rough-and-tumble competition" between lobbyists from a variety of industries, including concrete, asphalt, shoes, and cattle, to name a few.
A key question of the stimulus package is how quickly the massive cash infusion will be able to make its way through the economy. The Congressional Budget Office released a report yesterday saying that 64 percent of the money would be spent within the first 18 months, but also noted that due to interest payments its total cost could be more than $1 trillion.
The NYT's David Leonhardt writes while that pace may be "slower than ideal … it isn't terrible." Overall, the package "does pretty well by several important yardsticks." But the "one major flaw" that Leonhardt identifies is that it just isn't very original. Obama came into office pledging to change
Amidst all the hoopla surrounding Republican resistance to the stimulus package, it may have been easy to miss what a rare sight it is to see a president travel to Capitol Hill and even talk to reporters from the same spot where senators often hold their news conferences. When a president needs to talk to lawmakers, he usually does it on his turf. For a second "it might have seemed that Mr. Obama was back in the Senate," notes the NYT.
Another day, another lobbyist joins the Obama administration. USAT gives big play to news that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner chose a former Goldman Sachs lobbyist, Mark Patterson, as his chief of staff. The announcement came on the same day as Geithner announced new rules that aim to prevent the influence of lobbyists on the department. Patterson signed a pledge to recuse himself from issues relating to his former employer, undoubtedly a difficult proposition considering that Goldman Sachs received $10 billion from the financial bailout program, which, of course, is overseen by the Treasury.
The NYT gets word that the Obama administration intends to be much tougher on Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Whereas the Bush administration largely saw Karzai as an ally, he "is now seen as a potential impediment to American goals in
USMC Chief Talks Obama, JSF, MRAPs
Jan 26, 2009
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Iranian leader demands | ||||||
The "Those who speak of change must apologise to the Iranian people and try to repair their past crimes," he said. President Obama has offered to extend a hand if President Barack Obama discussed the possibility of a softening of 'Strong tirade' The Iranian president welcomed the possibility of "First is a fundamental and effective change... The second ... is a change of tactics. It is very clear that, if the meaning of change is the second one, this will soon be revealed," he said.
The remarks are the first Iranian comment on the The BBC's Jon Leyne in Our correspondent says we may see twists and turns out of While he was playing to the crowd, adds our correspondent, he could also be staking out his position ahead of Mr Ahmadinejad congratulated Mr Obama after his election in November but the message was criticised in Nuclear issue Mr Ahmadinejad also attacked "If you talk about change it must put an end to the The "If someone wants to talk with us in the language that [George W] Bush used... even if he uses new words, our response will be the same that we gave to Bush during the past years". Relations between The new The | ||||||
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| Russia's military has announced it will halt its plans to deploy short-range missiles in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad, Interfax news agency says. A Russian military official said a change in The In November last year, Mr Medvedev announced that short-range Iskander missiles would be deployed in The Kremlin hopes While the Russian defence ministry has not confirmed the latest Interfax report, the BBC's James Rodgers in Interfax quoted an unnamed military official as saying that "the implementation of these plans has been halted in connection with the fact that the new If the official's statement is borne out it may signal a wider hope in the Kremlin that the US under President Barack Obama will roll back the plans for the missile defence shield, our correspondent says. Before he took office on 20 January, Mr Obama's transition team said he had not made a commitment to deploying the missile defence system in eastern Europe and would wait to see if the technology proved workable. If President Obama spoke to President Medvedev by telephone on Monday. The two men pledged to stop the "drift" in their countries' relations, the White House said. Any decision not to deploy the Iskanders could also provide impetus to wider wider strategic arms talks between The 1991 Start I treaty, which provides a mechanism to monitor the two countries' nuclear arsenals, is up for renewal in December. Soured relations The The proposed system has Nato-wide backing. The The | |||||
Many families in Swat district, in Pakistan's embattled north-west, are packing up and leaving after Islamist militants began attacking schools, reports the BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who is travelling in the region. Can the security forces establish the government's rule in Swat and protect schools against attacks by Islamist militants? Will the militants revoke the ban they recently announced on girls' education before the winter vacations are over? For parents of schoolchildren who can afford to leave Swat and settle elsewhere, the answer is obvious. Leave. For those who have to remain, there are no easy answers. People are generally sceptical about the ability of the security forces to push the insurgents into a corner before 1 March, when school vacations end. "Taleban are everywhere, but the army is only behind barricades," says one resident who, like most people in Swat these days, does not want to be named. "It can only make things worse." Morale More than a week ago, a Taleban deadline to ban female education came into force. The militants also bombed a number of schools, including those of boys, casting a shadow over the future of education here. The army is now moving into the remaining school buildings to protect them against possible Taleban attacks. But parents fear that schools where the army is deployed will attract more-deadly attacks by the militants, endangering the lives of their children.
Swat is paralysed by a two-year-long armed insurgency by Taleban militants, who want to impose their brand of Islamic law in the district. The government moved in thousands of troops in the last quarter of 2007 to try to contain the insurgency. During this time, the militants have been able to put the security forces on the defensive by conducting a spate of suicide attacks on checkpoints, convoys and camps. The forces have also provoked anger among people by causing "collateral damage" as they struggle to hit militants who mix freely with the civilian population. This appears to have hurt the morale of the troops and has boosted that of the militants. The militants now control most areas outside the main town of Destroying the government's education infrastructure is one aspect of the Taleban's campaign to uproot the existing system and replace it with their own.
"In about 20 months or so, we have had 187 of our schools bombed out, of which 121 are girls' schools," says Sher Afzal Khan, the district head of the education department. Another 86 schools cannot be used because they are camps for the army or the Taleban, or they are in combat zones where children and staff cannot go, he says. "Nearly 60,000 students have been affected," says Mr Khan. Institutions of higher learning are no exception. "Three months ago, the Taleban banned male medical students from attending practical lessons in the gynaecology ward and the labour room," says a professor at Mingora's Soon afterwards, the Taleban started sending representatives to keep a watch at the college hospital to ensure the ban was not being violated. "We had to shift gynaecology classes to Mardan (another district in the north-west). There is now a proposal to shift the entire college to Mardan, along with its staff and equipment," the professor says. Moving away Khpal Kor (Our Home) is a local boarding school that made its name by offering education to orphaned children.
The school's revenue system was designed in such a way that fees raised from every five children of affluent families, called the "revenue students", would pay for one orphaned child's education. In addition, Khpal Kor ran a number of commercial ventures such as a tent service and an IT college to raise salaries for its teaching, janitorial and kitchen staff, all of them well-paid by local standards. "The tent service closed down due to absence of tourists, and almost all the students of the IT college have left as their families moved to other cities," says Imran Khan, Khpal Kor's coordination officer. "We also have information that more than half of our 500 "revenue students" are unlikely to return to school after the vacations as their families, too, have moved away. This will put us under pressure to provide for more than 100 orphans." But many parents are still here and their children face an uncertain future. "I have nothing but hope," says a college teacher who has a son and two daughters that go to school. "I hope the army will establish the government's writ in Swat in a month's time. If not, I hope the Taleban will revoke their ban on education." | |||||
Memorial Moving Wall will be at
By DWIGHT OTWELL
dotwell@cherokeescout.com Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:05 PM CST
Murphy – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Moving Wall is coming to Murphy in October.
The half-size replica of the
Valenty, representing Cherokee Detachment 1011 of the Marine Corps League, said it is the goal of the organization to bring the moving wall to Murphy in 2009. There are two Vietnam Memorial replica walls touring the country. The
Cherokee County Schools has agreed to provide student bands for the event. It appears that grades 5-12 will participate, Valenty said.
“Everyone may not be able to go to
Valenty asked commissioners for their support, whether it is money or labor.
Help will be needed to erect a foundation for the wall. A $2,000 deposit will be required for putting up the base of the wall, and another $2,500 will be needed for chaperones for the wall once it is here, Valenty said. The estimated total amount needed is $10,000, including 24-hour security and lighting.
Names of those killed in the Vietnam War, more than 50,000, are displayed on both sides of the wall, Valenty said.
The wall contains about 1,300 names of those still missing in action. Among the names are seven nurses, Valenty said.
Commission Chairman David Sumpter said the commission will help coordinate the financial aspects of the project.
The commissioners will consider providing financial help when it meets in a few months to consider the county’s budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.
“We won’t say ‘no.’ We will say ‘maybe,’ ” Sumpter said.
“I look forward to our community participating,” Commissioner Jonathan Dickey said. “We will discuss [financial] help when we talk about the budget in April. I am sure that people in the community also will come forward.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) will come to Murphy for the opening ceremony for the wall, Valenty said.
Gibson lived to tell tale of bloody
TESS GRUBER NELSON, Staff Writer
The Battle of Hill 881 was one of the bloodiest battles during the Vietnam War and as a forward air controller, Ron Gibson of Shenandoah was in the thick of things with other members of the 226 (2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Corps).
Gibson not only fought on Hill 881 during the Battle of Khe Sahn, but also in the
A graduate of
"I would have been drafted if I wouldn't have," said Gibson. "That's when they had the lottery and I had a real low number so I thought, at least I could pick where I want to go. I was going to get taken one way or another."
By June, Gibson was in
"Then, at the end of November '65, I was sent overseas to
After two months with the 1st Marines, Gibson was transferred to the 7th Marines in the
"We were about 20 or 30 miles south of Chu Lai in a peninsula we took from the Viet Cong," he said. "I had a team of five air controllers that I was with."
A forward air controller was a part of the infantry that called in air-strikes; medi-vac choppers and anything else that had to do with aircraft support explained Gibson.
"I liked what I did. It was fun to control a bomb run," said Gibson.
As a forward air controller, Gibson would be at the front of the edge of the action, so he was able to see what was going on at all times.
Gibson said the weather wasn't much better than the fighting.
"The monsoon season was the worst. It rained all day, every day for three months, or as long as it lasted. There was no way of getting dry. You stayed wet the whole time.
And when it wasn't raining, it was hot and humid."
Gibson was in
"I spent two months in a
Without the eye infection, Gibson only would have been in
Gibson was sent back to the
"We were radio operators between the radar stations along the coast," he said.
After putting in orders to be sent overseas to
"In November 1967 they sent me back again to
For his second tour, Gibson was stationed at Khe Sahn; during the Tet Offensive of 1968. This time he was with the 226 (2nd Battalion, 26th Marines).
"Khe Sahn was up closer to
Gibson was on Hill 881, 861 and 558 at one time or another, but added 881 was the worst of them.
"We couldn't get out; we were surrounded. They called in the 1st
Gibson said when they first arrived at Khe Sahn it was a beautiful mountain range, but by the time they left, it was nothing.
"What they didn't bomb, they put agent orange on to strip off the leaves and foliage."
When they got out of Khe Sahn, Gibson said they went to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) to Firebase 3, even farther north than Khe Sahn.
"You could see into
After they got out of Firebase 3, Gibson said they went down to Dung Ha to regroup and get replacements. After two or three weeks there, it was time for Gibson to go home. He had survived another 13 months in
"I don't regret my time in the Marines," said Gibson. "It was a good experience."
When Gibson returned to the States for the second time, he was once again sent to
"That time they put me on a Sergeant of the Guard because they didn't have anything else for me to do until my time was up in two or three months."
Gibson was discharged from the Marine Corps after a four-year enlistment. He returned to Shenandoah and attended the
When electronics school had been completed, Gibson had several careers such as an Eaton Corporation employee, volunteer Shenandoah fireman, Shenandoah Police Officer and the owner/operator of Ron's T.V. and Appliance.
In 1995, after he closed Ron's T.V. and Appliance, he started working at the Clarinda Post Office. Although permanently assigned to the Clarinda Post Office, Gibson also works at the Riverton Post Office from time to time.
Married to Shenandoah native Sherri Jackson, the Gibsons have two daughters, Shira and Megan and one granddaughter, Ava.
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