Early Bird summary
Friday’s Early Bird leads with a piece from the Los Angeles Times reporting that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told NATO allies Thursday that the Obama administration was reviewing plans for the controversial program and hoped to reopen talks with Moscow, which is bitterly opposed to the project.Gates, echoing views of other top administration officials, said the U.S. would consider whether the system was affordable and technologically feasible as plans move forward. Such caveats were uncommon under President Bush.
Several news sources, including the New York Times, Washington Times, and yahoo.com report that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that the United States might consider increasing payments to Kyrgyzstan for access to a crucial air base, just hours after the Kyrgyz Parliament voted to terminate the lease and require the Americans to vacate the base within six months.
Both the London Daily Telegraph and London Times report that US demands for NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan have been met with a cool response at a summit in Poland.Washington had hoped to persuade European allies to contribute more in the wake of the President Barack Obama's election and the announcement this week of the deployment of 17,00 extra American soldiers.American defense secretary Robert Gates condemned their failure to do so far as "disappointing" with European states promising to deploy no more than just a few hundred extra troops.
Army Times reports that the overall pace of U.S. military operations is likely to speed up over next 24 months as officials struggle to reduce the force in Iraq, quell insurgent violence in Afghanistan and build out new fighting units in the Army and Marine Corps, the nation’s top officer told troops at two bases Thursday.“The pace is pretty quick — the pace here, the pace around the world,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a joint-service audience at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. “I’d like to stand here this morning and say it’s going to change. I don’t think it’s going to change at all. I think if anything, it’s probably going to quicken for awhile.”
Two key members of the House Armed Services Committee, its chairman and the readiness subcommittee leader, have urged Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to stop moving civilian employees into the department's controversial National Security Personnel System, according to the Washington Post.In a Feb. 13 letter, Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Tex.) told Gates the personnel system has resulted in "widespread distrust and discontent within the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of dedicated DOD employees."
A two-month review to be finished in late March of the "deteriorating situation" in Afghanistan will determine whether more U.S. troops will be sent there and how long they might stay, President Obama said Thursday.In his first public comments on Afghanistan since his Tuesday order to send 17,000 more troops there, Obama said the extra forces were "necessary to stabilize the situation there in advance of the elections that are coming up."
Obama spoke after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the president's first foreign trip, according to USA Today. Canada's Parliament has set a 2011 deadline for withdrawal of Canada's 2,830 servicemembers from Afghanistan. Harper said his country is committed to helping redevelop the country.
Financial Times reports that the Afghan government is allowing drug traffickers to operate “with impunity” and officials who try to stop the country’s multi-billion-dollar narcotics trade face death threats, a United Nations anti-drugs agency said on Thursday.President Hamid Karzai’s beleaguered government was also told to show “strong political will and firm action” in tackling drug-related corruption in a report by the International Narcotics Control Board.
The London Times, meanwhile, reports that the Taleban insurgency has fused with narcotic mafias in British-controlled Helmand province, sparking a Colombian-style drug war, officials in Kabul said yesterday.Faced by the growing menace, British Forces brushed aside longstanding unease over direct involvement in counter-narcotics this week, mounting their first big operation explicitly targeting drugs labs in the province.Operation Diesel, which involved 800 British commandos and Special Forces, secured drugs from what officials said were processing labs linked to the Taleban. The drugs were worth $6million (£4million) at their source and much more on the streets of America and Europe. US officials estimate that the Afghan insurgents are now making up to $100million a year from drugs trafficking.
A hard-line cleric sought yesterday to persuade the Taliban to disarm under a pact with Pakistan's government aimed at restoring peace after an 18-month campaign of terrorism and battles with the army, according to the Boston Globe.The negotiations are a test of an agreement that has been much criticized as giving in to the demands of militants seeking to establish hard-line Islamic law and providing them a safe haven.Islamic cleric Sufi Muhammad promised to use his influence to push the Taliban in the former mountain resort region of Swat to stop fighting in exchange for a public vow by the government to impose Islamic law in the region, where a brutal insurgency has killed hundreds and sent up to one-third of the area's 1.5 million people fleeing.
The London Daily Telegraph reports China has demanded Moscow investigate how a cargo ship was sunk by the Russian navy off Vladivostok with the loss of eight lives.The New Star was pursued out of port in Nakhodka in the Siberian Far East on Sunday by a Russian naval vessel which believed it was involved in smuggling. The pursuing ship fired at least 500 rounds, forcing it to turn back to port, but it sank on the way.
More than 4,860 American soldiers and Marines have died in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, except for family, friends and comrades, their deaths are mostly statistics, repatriations shielded from public view and burials largely out of sight and mind.Perceptions may change with HBO's heartbreaking Taking Chance, premiering Saturday (8 ET/PT). It's based on real events and the experiences of Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobl, who wrote Taking Chance as a powerful tribute not only to Chance Phelps, a 19-year-old Marine killed during a 2004 firefight, but to scores of fellow war victims, according to USA Today.The Defense Department has banned virtually all media coverage of deceased vets returning home since the 1991 Gulf War, a decision currently under Pentagon review. But the military offered advice and assistance, providing Taking Chance's film crew with a rarely viewed but painstakingly accurate account of the care and protocol bestowed upon the nation's fallen warriors.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Los Angeles Times banners, while the Washington Post, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, California lawmakers finally passing a budget after a three-month battle. (Slate Magazine)
2. Navy Cross for Sag Harbor Marine: The sounds of a somber commemoration rehearsal echoed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., yesterday morning, as members of the 233-year-old branch of the military prepared to posthumously award its highest honor to a slain 19-year-old from Sag Harbor. (Newsday)
3. MCCDC presents the Marine Corps Story: The Marine Corps Story brief held in Little Hall, Feb. 13, outlined the emerging challenges and opportunities for the Corps’ future. (Quantico Sentry)
4. Increasing Afghan challenges for NATO: Nato defence ministers meeting amid the glacial beauty of Krakow skated their way over many of the difficulties surrounding the alliance's mission in Afghanistan. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
The Los Angeles Times banners, while the Washington Post, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, California lawmakers finally passing a budget after a three-month battle. Legislators spent almost two full days locked in the Capitol and finally got the two-thirds majority they needed to pass a budget that closes the state's $42-billion deficit. But, as the LAT highlights, the fight isn't over, as $5.8 billion in the budget depends on voters approving a series of ballot measures in a special election May 19. The NYT and WP say that the drama surrounding California's budget is a preview of what could soon be seen in state capitals across the country. With an economy that's larger than all but seven nations and a deficit that's larger than the expenditure of all but 10 other states, California clearly has outsized problems. "But with 40 states operating in the red, similar days of reckoning will soon be coming to state capitals from Florida to Arizona," notes the Post.
USA Today leads with a look at the increasing cost of acquiring individual health insurance at a time when more Americans are seeking the coverage because they lost their jobs. Individuals have no choice but to accept the higher rates because they don't have the power to negotiate with insurers. In the past few months, more people have been seeking individual health coverage, and while insurance companies say the increases aren't out of the ordinary, they do come as a shock to consumers who never experienced them when they were covered through an employer.
Democratic lawmakers were finally able to get one more Republican by promising a ballot measure that would rewrite California's election rules to institute "open" primaries. This would mean that candidates of all parties would compete against each other and then the two who get the most votes would proceed to the general election. The new rules wouldn't apply to governor races. Some Democrats weren't shy about expressing their anger and called the key Republican lawmaker an "extortionist." All 75 Democrats and six of the 44 Republicans voted for the budget that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign tomorrow.
The WP reminds readers that Schwarzenegger reached power after voters recalled then-Gov. Gray Davis for the way he handled a budget crisis. Among the new taxes Schwarzenegger has agreed to in the budget is a doubling of the car tax that "more than anything hastened Davis's departure from office." In a long look at California's economic woes, USAT says that the recession "exposed an ugly version of California Dreamin'." Politicians spent heavily during the boom years but failed to take into account that they might not last forever. "There's no real reason for California to have the kind of decline it is having now," an analyst tells the paper. "It's more and more clear that it's the failure of the political system more than anything else."
The NYT says that both sides would have had to compromise more if it wasn't for the stimulus money. Now California "might have set the template" for how other states will use the more flexible parts of the stimulus cash from the federal government. "My guess is states will use what they can to reduce cuts to the bone in education and health care," one budget expert said.
The LAT fronts Hillary Clinton's statement that American officials are working with allies to figure out what to do if North Korean leader Kim Jong Il leaves power. "Everybody's trying to read the tea leaves about what's happening and what's likely to occur," Clinton told reporters in her first trip as secretary of state. Clinton said that even a peaceful transition could lead to a dangerous situation as the new leaders try to consolidate power. There have already been signs that the North Korean regime is growing more confrontational. Although many believe that Kim is once again in power after reports that he suffered a stroke last year, Clinton's comments "suggested that there is now a widespread conviction that Kim is on the way out," notes the LAT.
Clinton adamantly denied she had made a mistake by even mentioning North Korean succession. "It's not like it's some classified matter that's not being discussed in many circles," she said. But it's certainly a subject that her predecessor "probably would have avoided," notes the WP in a front-page look at Clinton's trip. And that's hardly the only way Clinton has broken from the past. Clinton's main goal seems to be to let the world know that the United States wants to form partnerships and hear everyone's view. Her schedule has so many public appearances that it "has the feel of a presidential visit—or even a presidential campaign." Whereas Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice were formal and meticulously kept to their schedules, Clinton appears far more easygoing and seems "to be enjoying herself immensely on her trip."
Everybody reports that Benjamin Netanyahu moved a significant step closer toward becoming Israel's next prime minister when he gained the endorsement of controversial nationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman. Israeli President Shimon Peres still hasn't decided who should be given the first shot at forming a government, but Lieberman's endorsement is likely to be decisive. Lieberman urged Netanyahu to form a coalition with Tzipi Livni of the Kadima Party, but she quickly said she wouldn't serve in a "right-wing extremist government under Likud." If a Netanyahu-Lieberman government does emerge, it would probably lead to clashes with the Obama administration over the appropriate way to pursue peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
The WSJ goes big with, and everyone covers, news that the Dow Jones industrial average reached a new six-year low yesterday. The Dow has plunged 15 percent since the beginning of the year and is down more than 47 percent from its record close 16 months ago. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is still above its November low, but analysts fear that it will soon follow the Dow's lead as experts are telling investors that they're still not seeing signs that the market has reached bottom.
Navy Cross for Sag Harbor Marine slain in Iraq
BY MARTIN C. EVANS mailto:martin.evans@newsday.com&subject=Navy%20Cross%20for%20Sag%20Harbor%20Marine%20slain%20in%20Iraq
February 20, 2009
The sounds of a somber commemoration rehearsal echoed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., yesterday morning, as members of the 233-year-old branch of the military prepared to posthumously award its highest honor to a slain 19-year-old from Sag Harbor.Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter will present the Navy Cross in the names of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter and a fellow Marine today. Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan Yale were killed in Iraq last April while guarding a sentry post."I was not surprised by his actions," said Lt. Daniel Runzheimer, who commanded the 49-member platoon in which Haerter served and attended the rehearsal. "That's just the kind of man he was."Haerter and Yale, of Burkeville, Va., were standing guard at a base in Ramadi April 22 when the driver of an approaching truck ignored orders to stop. Haerter and Yale fired at the driver, bringing the truck to a halt within a few feet of them. But the driver detonated a cargo of about 2,000 pounds of explosives, killing the two Marines.
Marine officials say without their actions as many as 30 of their fellow troops nearby on the base would have perished in the powerful blast, which leveled a nearby building, destroyed much of a mosque and shattered windows hundreds of feet away.Haerter's death has spread both sadness and pride throughout the eastern Long Island community where he grew up. Some five dozen friends and supporters have signed up to travel to the ceremony on a Hampton Jitney chartered bus, scheduled to leave at 2 a.m. today from the parking lot at Sag Harbor's Pierson High School, where Haerter graduated in 2006. More are traveling by car."It was pretty tough in general for the platoon when it happened," said Runzheimer. "It inspired us to give it all we had for the next six months we were there. We all owed it to Jordan to be successful because of the sacrifice he had given."
MCCDC presents the Marine Corps Story
By Pfc. Javarre Glanton
Combat Correspondent
The Marine Corps Story brief held in Little Hall, Feb. 13, outlined the emerging challenges and opportunities for the Corps’ future. Based on ‘‘Vision and Strategy 2025,” the Marine Corps Story brief, was presented to all-hands, and focused on the Marine Corps as the nation’s expeditionary force-in-readiness.
‘‘The genesis for this brief was basically a conversation between the commandant and his generals where they were talking about critical initiatives and the near simultaneous releases of several documents at Headquarters Marine Corps,” stated Maj. John Butler, a plans officer with the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
Also in support of Marine Corps missions, presenters in the briefing framed the key points of the visions and strategies of the Marine Corps and outlined the commandant’s focus areas.
In simpler terms, Butler said that Marines needed to be most ready when the nation was least ready. Main points also included improving the quality of the lives of our Marines and their families.
Lt. Col. Albert Lagore, a fires capabilities expert with MCCDC, then described the future construct of Marine Air-Ground Task Forces and the Marine Expeditionary Forces. He spoke about the Marine Corps becoming more of an expeditionary force that is faster, capable of operating in austere environments and more lethal. Other topics covered by Lagore were improvements to the joint light tactical vehicle program, and improving the Marine Corps’ partnership with its naval counterparts.
The last part of the brief was delivered by Lt. Col. Ted Novack, a plans officer with Plans, Programs and Operations, HQMC. The main issue in Novack’s portion of the brief was explaining how the Marine expeditionary and task force structure will operate as ‘‘two-fisted fighters.” This two-fisted fighter behavior will enable the Marine Corps to destroy enemy formations with scalable air-ground-logistics teams in major contingencies, and equally be able to employ hard-earned irregular warfare skills honed over decades of conflict.
Friday’s Early Bird leads with a piece from the Los Angeles Times reporting that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told NATO allies Thursday that the Obama administration was reviewing plans for the controversial program and hoped to reopen talks with Moscow, which is bitterly opposed to the project.Gates, echoing views of other top administration officials, said the U.S. would consider whether the system was affordable and technologically feasible as plans move forward. Such caveats were uncommon under President Bush.
Several news sources, including the New York Times, Washington Times, and yahoo.com report that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that the United States might consider increasing payments to Kyrgyzstan for access to a crucial air base, just hours after the Kyrgyz Parliament voted to terminate the lease and require the Americans to vacate the base within six months.
Both the London Daily Telegraph and London Times report that US demands for NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan have been met with a cool response at a summit in Poland.Washington had hoped to persuade European allies to contribute more in the wake of the President Barack Obama's election and the announcement this week of the deployment of 17,00 extra American soldiers.American defense secretary Robert Gates condemned their failure to do so far as "disappointing" with European states promising to deploy no more than just a few hundred extra troops.
Army Times reports that the overall pace of U.S. military operations is likely to speed up over next 24 months as officials struggle to reduce the force in Iraq, quell insurgent violence in Afghanistan and build out new fighting units in the Army and Marine Corps, the nation’s top officer told troops at two bases Thursday.“The pace is pretty quick — the pace here, the pace around the world,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a joint-service audience at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. “I’d like to stand here this morning and say it’s going to change. I don’t think it’s going to change at all. I think if anything, it’s probably going to quicken for awhile.”
Two key members of the House Armed Services Committee, its chairman and the readiness subcommittee leader, have urged Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to stop moving civilian employees into the department's controversial National Security Personnel System, according to the Washington Post.In a Feb. 13 letter, Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Tex.) told Gates the personnel system has resulted in "widespread distrust and discontent within the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of dedicated DOD employees."
A two-month review to be finished in late March of the "deteriorating situation" in Afghanistan will determine whether more U.S. troops will be sent there and how long they might stay, President Obama said Thursday.In his first public comments on Afghanistan since his Tuesday order to send 17,000 more troops there, Obama said the extra forces were "necessary to stabilize the situation there in advance of the elections that are coming up."
Obama spoke after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the president's first foreign trip, according to USA Today. Canada's Parliament has set a 2011 deadline for withdrawal of Canada's 2,830 servicemembers from Afghanistan. Harper said his country is committed to helping redevelop the country.
Financial Times reports that the Afghan government is allowing drug traffickers to operate “with impunity” and officials who try to stop the country’s multi-billion-dollar narcotics trade face death threats, a United Nations anti-drugs agency said on Thursday.President Hamid Karzai’s beleaguered government was also told to show “strong political will and firm action” in tackling drug-related corruption in a report by the International Narcotics Control Board.
The London Times, meanwhile, reports that the Taleban insurgency has fused with narcotic mafias in British-controlled Helmand province, sparking a Colombian-style drug war, officials in Kabul said yesterday.Faced by the growing menace, British Forces brushed aside longstanding unease over direct involvement in counter-narcotics this week, mounting their first big operation explicitly targeting drugs labs in the province.Operation Diesel, which involved 800 British commandos and Special Forces, secured drugs from what officials said were processing labs linked to the Taleban. The drugs were worth $6million (£4million) at their source and much more on the streets of America and Europe. US officials estimate that the Afghan insurgents are now making up to $100million a year from drugs trafficking.
A hard-line cleric sought yesterday to persuade the Taliban to disarm under a pact with Pakistan's government aimed at restoring peace after an 18-month campaign of terrorism and battles with the army, according to the Boston Globe.The negotiations are a test of an agreement that has been much criticized as giving in to the demands of militants seeking to establish hard-line Islamic law and providing them a safe haven.Islamic cleric Sufi Muhammad promised to use his influence to push the Taliban in the former mountain resort region of Swat to stop fighting in exchange for a public vow by the government to impose Islamic law in the region, where a brutal insurgency has killed hundreds and sent up to one-third of the area's 1.5 million people fleeing.
The London Daily Telegraph reports China has demanded Moscow investigate how a cargo ship was sunk by the Russian navy off Vladivostok with the loss of eight lives.The New Star was pursued out of port in Nakhodka in the Siberian Far East on Sunday by a Russian naval vessel which believed it was involved in smuggling. The pursuing ship fired at least 500 rounds, forcing it to turn back to port, but it sank on the way.
More than 4,860 American soldiers and Marines have died in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, except for family, friends and comrades, their deaths are mostly statistics, repatriations shielded from public view and burials largely out of sight and mind.Perceptions may change with HBO's heartbreaking Taking Chance, premiering Saturday (8 ET/PT). It's based on real events and the experiences of Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobl, who wrote Taking Chance as a powerful tribute not only to Chance Phelps, a 19-year-old Marine killed during a 2004 firefight, but to scores of fellow war victims, according to USA Today.The Defense Department has banned virtually all media coverage of deceased vets returning home since the 1991 Gulf War, a decision currently under Pentagon review. But the military offered advice and assistance, providing Taking Chance's film crew with a rarely viewed but painstakingly accurate account of the care and protocol bestowed upon the nation's fallen warriors.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The Los Angeles Times banners, while the Washington Post, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, California lawmakers finally passing a budget after a three-month battle. (Slate Magazine)
2. Navy Cross for Sag Harbor Marine: The sounds of a somber commemoration rehearsal echoed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., yesterday morning, as members of the 233-year-old branch of the military prepared to posthumously award its highest honor to a slain 19-year-old from Sag Harbor. (Newsday)
3. MCCDC presents the Marine Corps Story: The Marine Corps Story brief held in Little Hall, Feb. 13, outlined the emerging challenges and opportunities for the Corps’ future. (Quantico Sentry)
4. Increasing Afghan challenges for NATO: Nato defence ministers meeting amid the glacial beauty of Krakow skated their way over many of the difficulties surrounding the alliance's mission in Afghanistan. (BBC)
Leading newspaper headlines
The Los Angeles Times banners, while the Washington Post, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with, California lawmakers finally passing a budget after a three-month battle. Legislators spent almost two full days locked in the Capitol and finally got the two-thirds majority they needed to pass a budget that closes the state's $42-billion deficit. But, as the LAT highlights, the fight isn't over, as $5.8 billion in the budget depends on voters approving a series of ballot measures in a special election May 19. The NYT and WP say that the drama surrounding California's budget is a preview of what could soon be seen in state capitals across the country. With an economy that's larger than all but seven nations and a deficit that's larger than the expenditure of all but 10 other states, California clearly has outsized problems. "But with 40 states operating in the red, similar days of reckoning will soon be coming to state capitals from Florida to Arizona," notes the Post.
USA Today leads with a look at the increasing cost of acquiring individual health insurance at a time when more Americans are seeking the coverage because they lost their jobs. Individuals have no choice but to accept the higher rates because they don't have the power to negotiate with insurers. In the past few months, more people have been seeking individual health coverage, and while insurance companies say the increases aren't out of the ordinary, they do come as a shock to consumers who never experienced them when they were covered through an employer.
Democratic lawmakers were finally able to get one more Republican by promising a ballot measure that would rewrite California's election rules to institute "open" primaries. This would mean that candidates of all parties would compete against each other and then the two who get the most votes would proceed to the general election. The new rules wouldn't apply to governor races. Some Democrats weren't shy about expressing their anger and called the key Republican lawmaker an "extortionist." All 75 Democrats and six of the 44 Republicans voted for the budget that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign tomorrow.
The WP reminds readers that Schwarzenegger reached power after voters recalled then-Gov. Gray Davis for the way he handled a budget crisis. Among the new taxes Schwarzenegger has agreed to in the budget is a doubling of the car tax that "more than anything hastened Davis's departure from office." In a long look at California's economic woes, USAT says that the recession "exposed an ugly version of California Dreamin'." Politicians spent heavily during the boom years but failed to take into account that they might not last forever. "There's no real reason for California to have the kind of decline it is having now," an analyst tells the paper. "It's more and more clear that it's the failure of the political system more than anything else."
The NYT says that both sides would have had to compromise more if it wasn't for the stimulus money. Now California "might have set the template" for how other states will use the more flexible parts of the stimulus cash from the federal government. "My guess is states will use what they can to reduce cuts to the bone in education and health care," one budget expert said.
The LAT fronts Hillary Clinton's statement that American officials are working with allies to figure out what to do if North Korean leader Kim Jong Il leaves power. "Everybody's trying to read the tea leaves about what's happening and what's likely to occur," Clinton told reporters in her first trip as secretary of state. Clinton said that even a peaceful transition could lead to a dangerous situation as the new leaders try to consolidate power. There have already been signs that the North Korean regime is growing more confrontational. Although many believe that Kim is once again in power after reports that he suffered a stroke last year, Clinton's comments "suggested that there is now a widespread conviction that Kim is on the way out," notes the LAT.
Clinton adamantly denied she had made a mistake by even mentioning North Korean succession. "It's not like it's some classified matter that's not being discussed in many circles," she said. But it's certainly a subject that her predecessor "probably would have avoided," notes the WP in a front-page look at Clinton's trip. And that's hardly the only way Clinton has broken from the past. Clinton's main goal seems to be to let the world know that the United States wants to form partnerships and hear everyone's view. Her schedule has so many public appearances that it "has the feel of a presidential visit—or even a presidential campaign." Whereas Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice were formal and meticulously kept to their schedules, Clinton appears far more easygoing and seems "to be enjoying herself immensely on her trip."
Everybody reports that Benjamin Netanyahu moved a significant step closer toward becoming Israel's next prime minister when he gained the endorsement of controversial nationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman. Israeli President Shimon Peres still hasn't decided who should be given the first shot at forming a government, but Lieberman's endorsement is likely to be decisive. Lieberman urged Netanyahu to form a coalition with Tzipi Livni of the Kadima Party, but she quickly said she wouldn't serve in a "right-wing extremist government under Likud." If a Netanyahu-Lieberman government does emerge, it would probably lead to clashes with the Obama administration over the appropriate way to pursue peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
The WSJ goes big with, and everyone covers, news that the Dow Jones industrial average reached a new six-year low yesterday. The Dow has plunged 15 percent since the beginning of the year and is down more than 47 percent from its record close 16 months ago. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is still above its November low, but analysts fear that it will soon follow the Dow's lead as experts are telling investors that they're still not seeing signs that the market has reached bottom.
Navy Cross for Sag Harbor Marine slain in Iraq
BY MARTIN C. EVANS mailto:martin.evans@newsday.com&subject=Navy%20Cross%20for%20Sag%20Harbor%20Marine%20slain%20in%20Iraq
February 20, 2009
The sounds of a somber commemoration rehearsal echoed in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va., yesterday morning, as members of the 233-year-old branch of the military prepared to posthumously award its highest honor to a slain 19-year-old from Sag Harbor.Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter will present the Navy Cross in the names of Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter and a fellow Marine today. Haerter and Cpl. Jonathan Yale were killed in Iraq last April while guarding a sentry post."I was not surprised by his actions," said Lt. Daniel Runzheimer, who commanded the 49-member platoon in which Haerter served and attended the rehearsal. "That's just the kind of man he was."Haerter and Yale, of Burkeville, Va., were standing guard at a base in Ramadi April 22 when the driver of an approaching truck ignored orders to stop. Haerter and Yale fired at the driver, bringing the truck to a halt within a few feet of them. But the driver detonated a cargo of about 2,000 pounds of explosives, killing the two Marines.
Marine officials say without their actions as many as 30 of their fellow troops nearby on the base would have perished in the powerful blast, which leveled a nearby building, destroyed much of a mosque and shattered windows hundreds of feet away.Haerter's death has spread both sadness and pride throughout the eastern Long Island community where he grew up. Some five dozen friends and supporters have signed up to travel to the ceremony on a Hampton Jitney chartered bus, scheduled to leave at 2 a.m. today from the parking lot at Sag Harbor's Pierson High School, where Haerter graduated in 2006. More are traveling by car."It was pretty tough in general for the platoon when it happened," said Runzheimer. "It inspired us to give it all we had for the next six months we were there. We all owed it to Jordan to be successful because of the sacrifice he had given."
MCCDC presents the Marine Corps Story
By Pfc. Javarre Glanton
Combat Correspondent
The Marine Corps Story brief held in Little Hall, Feb. 13, outlined the emerging challenges and opportunities for the Corps’ future. Based on ‘‘Vision and Strategy 2025,” the Marine Corps Story brief, was presented to all-hands, and focused on the Marine Corps as the nation’s expeditionary force-in-readiness.
‘‘The genesis for this brief was basically a conversation between the commandant and his generals where they were talking about critical initiatives and the near simultaneous releases of several documents at Headquarters Marine Corps,” stated Maj. John Butler, a plans officer with the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
Also in support of Marine Corps missions, presenters in the briefing framed the key points of the visions and strategies of the Marine Corps and outlined the commandant’s focus areas.
In simpler terms, Butler said that Marines needed to be most ready when the nation was least ready. Main points also included improving the quality of the lives of our Marines and their families.
Lt. Col. Albert Lagore, a fires capabilities expert with MCCDC, then described the future construct of Marine Air-Ground Task Forces and the Marine Expeditionary Forces. He spoke about the Marine Corps becoming more of an expeditionary force that is faster, capable of operating in austere environments and more lethal. Other topics covered by Lagore were improvements to the joint light tactical vehicle program, and improving the Marine Corps’ partnership with its naval counterparts.
The last part of the brief was delivered by Lt. Col. Ted Novack, a plans officer with Plans, Programs and Operations, HQMC. The main issue in Novack’s portion of the brief was explaining how the Marine expeditionary and task force structure will operate as ‘‘two-fisted fighters.” This two-fisted fighter behavior will enable the Marine Corps to destroy enemy formations with scalable air-ground-logistics teams in major contingencies, and equally be able to employ hard-earned irregular warfare skills honed over decades of conflict.
Increasing Afghan challenges for Nato
Defence ministers gathered in Krakow for the Nato summit
By Caroline Wyatt Defence correspondent, BBC News, Krakow
Nato defence ministers meeting amid the glacial beauty of Krakow skated their way over many of the difficulties surrounding the alliance's mission in Afghanistan.
There was no getting away from the realities on the ground, though, amid what President Barack Obama recently termed a "deteriorating situation".
Nato's secretary general acknowledged that the mission in Afghanistan was not going as the bloc had hoped, as he delivered a bleak assessment on its progress.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the south and east of the country were riven by insurgency, while drugs and a lack of effective government had only increased Afghans' frustration.
However, he said failure in Afghanistan was not an option for the alliance.
"We cannot afford the price of failure in Afghanistan," he said.
"Instability in an already highly unstable region, a safe haven for international terrorism and massive suffering for the Afghan people is simply too much to accept. "Which is why we'll see all members of the team, Afghan and international, pull closer together and pull harder in 2009."
Russian objections
As ministers arrived in Poland for their informal meeting, MPs in Kyrgyzstan voted to close an American air base which forms part of a key supply route for US forces in Afghanistan.
That only added to a lengthy list of difficult issues facing Nato members.
The ball is absolutely in Europe's court now and we need to pick it up if we're going to be seen to be responsible, effective allies of the US
John HuttonUK defence secretary
Many suspect that Russian pressure was behind the Kyrgyz move to shut the US base, illustrating another problem Nato is struggling with: the need to win Moscow's support for its mission in Afghanistan despite continuing discussions with Georgia and Ukraine about moving towards Nato membership over Russian objections.
However, James Appathurai, the spokesman for the secretary general, said the closure of Manas Airbase should not affect Nato's operations in Afghanistan.
"Nato has not been using that base but certain allies do use it. They are looking for alternatives and I am reassured that there are alternatives."
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates also played down the significance of the move.
"Manas is an important base, but it's not irreplaceable," he told journalists.
"We are going to continue to work the problem with the Kyrgyz. We have not resigned ourselves to this being the last word. "We have looked at alternatives and have been talking to a number of different countries."
Drug seizures
Nato's secretary general was keen to play up some of the positives, despite an obvious reluctance among most Nato allies here to offer more combat forces for the mission in Afghanistan, even after the US announced plans to deploy an additional 17,000 soldiers.
Mr Scheffer said there were now a total of 56,000 troops in Afghanistan under Nato's ISAF command, from 41 different countries, and that voter registration for Afghanistan's elections - scheduled for August - had gone well.
Nato has 56,000 troops in Afghanistan
He also cited four operations in which 11 drug laboratories were captured, and $50m (£35m) in drugs seized by Nato forces, including a joint British-Afghan operation.
However, a big question mark still hangs over just how much more Nato's members might be willing to commit in terms of extra combat troops.
Despite America's increase, many others have made clear they are already doing as much as they feel able to, especially in nations where public support for the mission is limited.
UK Defence Secretary John Hutton said Britain was already punching above its weight in Afghanistan, as the second-largest contributor of Nato forces in Afghanistan, and that it was up to other countries to help.
"Our view has always been very clear: Nato needs to do more," he told the BBC.
"The European members of Nato need to do more.
"There needs to be fairer burden-sharing of responsibilities, particularly in those really hard areas where what we need are combat forces.
"The ball is absolutely in Europe's court now and we need to pick it up if we're going to be seen to be responsible, effective allies of the US."
Yet his US counterpart, Mr Gates, was unusually muted on the issue.
UK Defence Secretary John Hutton (L) called for more European action
It is not clear whether that was because America has now lost hope of anyone else offering significantly more combat troops, or whether Washington has decided that other contributions - of funding and civilian aid - may be the best they can realistically hope for.
Nonetheless, Nato's leadership is still hoping that some countries will use the alliance's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg in April, during President Obama's first visit to Europe, to announce their willingness to do more.
Germany has said it is likely to send around 600 extra troops to the more peaceful north to help with security during the Afghan elections.
But for now, it looks as though the US, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and a handful of others will continue to do the lion's share of the fighting - and the dying - in Afghanistan.
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