Early Bird summary
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is preparing the most far-reaching changes in the Pentagon's weapons portfolio since the end of the Cold War, according to aides, the Boston Globe reports.Two defense officials who were not authorized to speak publicly said Gates will announce up to a half-dozen major weapons cancellations later this month. Candidates include a new Navy destroyer, the Air Force's F-22 fighter jet, and Army ground-combat vehicles, the officials said.More cuts are planned for later this year after a review that could lead to reductions in programs such as aircraft carriers and nuclear arms, the officials said.
The Pentagon yesterday suspended plans to move additional civilian workers from the traditional General Schedule employee classification to the controversial National Security Personnel System, according to the Washington Post.Under pressure from federal employee unions, members of Congress and a skeptical new commander in chief, the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management jointly announced that they will undertake a review of the NSPS.The system has been widely criticized by federal employees, who distrust the personnel evaluations used as part of its pay-for-performance approach. Critics also fear that the system could, at some point, hold down wages for civilian military personnel.
USA Today reports that American support for the war in Afghanistan has ebbed to a new low, as attacks on U.S. troops and their allies have hit record levels and commanders are pleading for reinforcements, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.In the poll taken Saturday and Sunday, 42% of respondents said the United States made "a mistake" in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30% in February. That's the highest mark since the poll first asked the question in November 2001 when the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government that sheltered al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks.In January 2002, 6% of respondents called the war "a mistake."Those who said the war is going well dropped to 38% in the latest poll, the lowest percentage since that question was asked in September 2006.Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, concerned about deteriorating security there, has asked for 30,000 additional U.S. troops. President Obama is sending 17,000 troops, but he has ordered a thorough review of the strategy before deciding to send any more. There are about 38,000 U.S. troops there now.
Two broadcast interview transcriptions regarding the war in Afghanistan feature in today’s Early Bird. For the transcript of a CBS interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen discussing Iraq's reconstruction and its lessons for the war in Afghanistan, click this link. For the transcript of a PBS interview with Maj.Gen Jeffrey Schloesser and others discussing the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, click this link.
American warplanes shot down an unmanned Iranian aircraft last month as it flew over Iraqi territory, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Monday, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times.The U.S. military said it had tracked the drone for about an hour and 10 minutes before shooting it down Feb. 25 about 60 miles northeast of the capital, Baghdad."This was not an accident on the part of the Iranians," the military said.
The decision not to renew Blackwater Worldwide's security contract in Iraq when it expires in early May has left the State Department scrambling to fill a protection gap for U.S. diplomats and civilian officials there, according to reports in the Washington Post and Washington Times.Two other U.S. security contractors with a far smaller presence in Iraq -- DynCorp International and Triple Canopy -- have been asked to replace the ousted company, according to State Department and company officials. To meet time, training and security-clearance pressures, officials said, one or both of the firms are likely to undertake the task by rehiring some personnel now working for Blackwater.
The Hill reports that 13 House lawmakers are pressing President Obama to buy a cheaper, less sophisticated version of the controversial new presidential helicopter.The lawmakers are warning the president that canceling the new Marine One helicopter program, whose costs have exploded in the past three years, would be “the least responsible alternative both for the safety of your office and the investment of the American taxpayers.”
A high-level bipartisan commission recommended yesterday that the Obama administration reach out to Russia in a number of ways, putting NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine on hold and taking "a new look" at the planned missile shield in eastern Europe, possibly even collaborating with Moscow on it, the Boston Globe reports.The recommendations were made as the administration has said it wants to "reset" the critically important but strained relationship. The report also came weeks before President Obama is to meet his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev, at the Group of 20 summit meeting in London on April 2.Meanwhile, CNN reports that a top Russian air force general says his country's ready to flex its muscle in America's back yard, telling a Russian news agency his military may want to land strategic bombers in Cuba. For a transcript of that piece, click this link.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The New York Times and Washington Post lead with, and everyone else fronts, the continuing fallout from the $165 million in bonuses that American International Group handed out to employees who were at least partly responsible for the insurance giant's fall from grace. (Slate Magazine)
2. Russia announces rearmament plan: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011. (BBC)
3. ‘Bin Laden’ attacks Arab Leaders: A new audio message said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden accuses moderate Arab leaders of conspiring with the West against Muslims. (BBC)
4. Umpiring camp for Marines could fulfill diamond dreams: As a spotter in a Humvee running down the treacherous roads of Iraq, Marine Sgt. John Miner had to focus intently. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Leading newspaper headlines
The New York Times and Washington Post lead with, and everyone else fronts, the continuing fallout from the $165 million in bonuses that American International Group handed out to employees who were at least partly responsible for the insurance giant's fall from grace. President Obama ordered his administration to "pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses" that started to go out Friday. Separately, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he would subpoena the company to find out details about the bonuses and their recipients.
The Los Angeles Times leads with a look at how President Obama has "launched an aggressive campaign-style offensive" to garner support for his agenda and make his political opponents seem irrelevant. E-mails are going out to campaign supporters asking them to call members of Congress and the White House is coordinating with grass-roots groups that are running ads targeting Republicans. Obama will even go on The Tonight Show on Thursday, marking the first time that a sitting president will appear on a late-night talk show. USA Today leads with a new poll that shows support for the war in Afghanistan has dropped to new lows. About 42 percent of Americans think it was "a mistake" to send troops to Afghanistan, a marked increase from the 30 percent who thought so in February. A mere 38 percent of Americans think the war is going well. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with news that Mohammad Khatami, Iran's reformist former president, has decided to drop out of the race. The move might make it more difficult for reformists to stop the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khatami dropped out after a reformist rival vowed to stay in the race and the former president said he didn't want to split the vote.
Coming a day after Obama's top economic advisers said that they had no choice and had to let the AIG bonuses go through, it's hard to see how the president's order to "block these bonuses" was anything besides a little grandstanding. Indeed, the WSJ says that by the end of the day, administration officials had acknowledged that there was nothing they could do to demand the recipients return the payments without getting involved in a legal fight that could very well end up being more expensive than the bonuses themselves. The LAT talks to some legal experts and concludes that at the very least it would be difficult, and might even be illegal, for the government to force employees to return payments that they were entitled to under their contracts.
To get around these legal issues, there are suggestions that the administration would write new conditions to the $30 billion installment of taxpayer money that AIG is set to receive soon. As the NYT points out, this "seemed to leave open the possibility that the company would effectively be repaying taxpayers with taxpayer money." An administration official obviously denied it, but it's difficult to see how else the company could give the money back.
Now that the American public seems to have channeled all its rage about the financial collapse into AIG (hey, at least it's a more worthy victim than Jim Cramer), questions are starting to pop up about who knew and when did they know it. The NYT says officials at the Treasury and Federal Reserve knew about the bonus program "as far back as last fall." One lawmaker—Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland—didn't get very far when he tried to obtain information about the bonuses in December. But, again according to the NYT, Timothy Geithner, the treasury secretary, didn't personally know that another round of bonuses was due on March 15 until last week. The WP takes it back even further and says AIG had publicly disclosed its plans for the payments "more than a year ago" and the details had been "widely reported." The Post also specifies that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which has overseen AIG since September, extensively looked into the issue and concluded they couldn't do anything about the bonuses. For some reason, the paper doesn't remind readers that Geithner was the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until he joined the Obama administration.
The WSJ points out that the confusing and seemingly haphazard response to what has essentially become a public relations crisis "illustrates the bind that Mr. Obama finds himself in." While he needs to convince Americans that he shares their anger, he also "needs the executives and employees of those companies to help the government untangle the current financial mess." Working at AIG now is hardly a picnic. The WP points out that there were armed guards outside the insurance giant's Financial Products division offices in Connecticut, where employees were swamped with angry phone calls and e-mails, including a few death threats. Some managers resigned, and others just didn't show up to work. "It's a mob effect," one senior executive said. "It's putting people's lives in danger."
We all need to calm down, suggests the NYT's Andrew Ross Sorkin. Giving out $165 million to the people "that nearly took down the financial system" doesn't seem to fit anyone's definition of fair but perhaps we should all just "swallow hard and pay up." Although it may seem like a cop out to say that contracts can't be broken, just imagine what could happen to the economy "if the business community started to worry that the government would start abrogating contracts left and right." Even if we set aside the issue of contracts, there's the uncomfortable fact that since "AIG built this bomb … it may be the only outfit that really knows how to defuse it." AIG's employees know where the skeletons are buried and could move to another company to make money betting against taxpayers' interests. It might be tempting to think that's not really an option because there are no jobs in Wall Street, but the truth is that "the real moneymakers in finance always have a place to go."
While we're at it, we should all ease up a bit on the attacks on banks that took bailout money and have the audacity to still hold staff retreats or sponsor events, writes the WP's Allan Sloan. "Sure, it makes for great sound bites," writes Sloan. "But it's counterproductive, because it will cost taxpayers money and make reviving our financial system more difficult." Sloan isn't talking about the AIG bonuses or Citigroup's plans to buy expensive private planes, which are true symbols of corporate excess. But rather, trips to reward employees or Northern Trust's much-maligned sponsorship of a golf tournament. All this scrutiny has motivated some banks to say they want to return government money ASAP. That attitude may be easy to mock, but it could end up costing taxpayers money. Furthermore, if healthy institutions return the money it would stigmatize the institutions that can't pay back the government. If lawmakers want to micromanage the companies, they should just take them over. "Until then, they should stop acting like children throwing spitballs."
Criticizing companies for their profligate ways is a lot like criticizing earmarks: Way too easy. The WP fronts a look at one of the most maligned earmarks in the recently passed omnibus spending bill, which involved $1 million to kill Mormon crickets. ("Is that the species of cricket or a game played by the brits?" quipped Sen. John McCain on Twitter). But the issue is far from a joke for the ranchers of Grouse Creek, Utah, who have been suffering through an invasion of the critters that have "devoured crops, frightened children and threatened families' livelihoods." Of course, many say that the problem with earmarks isn't the projects that they fund, but rather how it's all done in secret and that it could be used as an expensive thank you note to campaign contributors.
The LAT points out that demand for hybrids has plunged just as automakers are releasing more of the fuel-efficient cars than ever before. It's hardly a secret that the whole auto industry is doing badly, but hybrids are particularly difficult to get out of the sales floor because consumers are reluctant to pay a premium for fuel-efficiency when the average price of gasoline has dropped below $2 a gallon. Automakers, however, feel like they have no choice but to keep producing these types of vehicles becuase of pressure from Washington. "The automakers are in the situation of needing to pacify politicians that are in the position to bail them out with expensive fuel-efficient cars," an analyst said.
The papers report that Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal with nationalist party Yisrael Beitenu to join his government in exchange for a few important cabinet seats. If finalized, the deal could mean that the controversial leader of Yisrael Beitenu, Avigdor Lieberman, could become Israel's next foreign minister. During the campaign, Lieberman won over hard-line voters with a promise to mandate that all Israeli citizens must take a loyalty oath. The agreement doesn't mention a loyalty oath, but also has no mention of peace talks or a peace process. But it does pledge to topple Hamas and vow that the government won't negotiate with terrorist groups.
In the NYT's op-ed page, Patrick French writes that the decision by the Pakistani government to hand power over the Swat Valley to the "Pakistani Taliban" was a "foolish bargain" that "represents the most serious blow to the country's territorial integrity since the civil war of 1971." The once-popular tourist destination that is merely 100 miles from Islamabad "is not one of Pakistan's wild border areas" but has now ostensibly become a terrorist sanctuary. The situation is similar to what happened in Afghanistan in the 1990s, when the government slowly allowed the Taliban to take over. Pakistan's politicians must "recognize the real and immediate danger of the Islamist threat," writes French. "If they do not, their country risks becoming a nuclear-armed Afghanistan."
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Russia announces rearmament plan
President Medvedev wants to increase the combat readiness of Russian forces
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011.
Mr Medvedev said the primary task would be to "increase the combat readiness of [Russia's] forces, first of all our strategic nuclear forces".
Explaining the move, he cited concerns over Nato expansion near Russia's borders and regional conflicts.
Last year, the Kremlin set out plans to increase spending on Russia's armed forces over the next two years.
Russia will spend nearly $140bn (£94.5bn) on buying arms up until 2011.
Higher oil revenues in recent years have allowed the Kremlin to increase the military budget, analysts say. But prices have averaged $40 a barrel in 2009 compared with $100 last year.
Outdated equipment
In his first address to a defence ministry meeting in his capacity as supreme commander, Mr Medvedev said considerable sums are being channelled towards developing and purchasing modern military equipment.
Inside Russia's military
Send us your comments
"Despite the financial problems we have to cope with today, the size of these sums has remained virtually the same as planned."
Analysts say the brief war in Georgia exposed problems with outdated equipment and practices within Russia's armed forces and led to calls for military modernisation.
President Medvedev's remarks also appear significant for what they say about the diplomatic game between Moscow and the new administration in the United States, says the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow.
Both sides are looking for a solution to issues - such as US missile defence plans in Europe - which bitterly divided the Kremlin and the White House during the Bush administration. Neither, though, seems willing simply to abandon previously-held positions, our correspondent adds.
The Russian Security Council is currently developing a new military doctrine which is expected to reflect current and forthcoming international developments, including any changes Nato may set out this year, missile defence deployments and WMD proliferation.
"The Security Council will approve Russia's national security strategy until 2020 in the near future," President Medvedev said.
Watch Tim Whewell's films on the Russian military on Newsnight on Tuesday, 18 March and Wednesday, 19 March, 2009 at 10.30pm on
BBC Two.
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'Bin Laden' attacks Arab leaders
The last tape attributed to Bin Laden emerged in January
A new audio message said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden accuses moderate Arab leaders of conspiring with the West against Muslims.
Bin Laden, who has been America's most wanted man since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, also renews his attacks on Israel in the recording attributed to him.
It was broadcast by the Qatari-based TV channel al-Jazeera which did not say how it had been obtained.
Correspondents say the voice sounds similar to previous Bin laden tapes.
"It is clear that some Arab leaders have plotted with the Zionist-Crusader [Israel-Western] coalition against our people," the speaker on the tape says, without naming any leader.
"These are the leaders that America calls moderate."
He also accuses Israel of war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where it waged an offensive earlier this year, leaving some 1,300 people dead.
The speaker calls for a renewed jihad and urges militants to first conquer Iraq and then Jordan, which can be used as a route into the West Bank.
The last recorded message said to be from Osama Bin Laden was released in mid-January and called for a holy war to stop the Israeli offensive against Gaza.
Osama Bin Laden is believed to be living in the tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with a multi-million dollar US bounty on his head.
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Umpiring camp for Marines could fulfill diamond dreams
By David Hasemyer (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. March 17, 2009
Camp director Rich Rieker (left) instructed Marines such as Chief Petty Officer Rob Patton on the basics of umpiring. (Nancee E. Lewis / Union-Tribune) -
More than 80 service members were among the attendees at yesterday's umpiring class at SDSU. (Nancee E. Lewis / Union-Tribune)
As a spotter in a Humvee running down the treacherous roads of Iraq, Marine Sgt. John Miner had to focus intently.
He looked left, right and left again, scanning the area for explosives. Miner, a machine-gunner who completed two combat tours between 2005 and 2007, had just an instant to spot a bomb and make the call to stop his vehicle or take evasive action.
He needed to be decisive under pressure – the same attribute he put to the test yesterday behind home plate at Tony Gwynn Stadium at San Diego State University.
“The Marine Corps teaches you to make fast decisions and make the right decisions,” Miner said. “That's the same thing a good baseball umpire needs to do.”
Miner was among more than 80 service members from Camp Pendleton, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot and the Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center to attend a one-day umpiring class at SDSU. The San Diego Padres and Major League Baseball Umpire Camps sponsored the first-time event.
The camp offered Marines a chance to train in the skill of umpiring and possibly win scholarships to attend Professional Umpire Camp at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy, a year-round facility in Compton.
During yesterday's session, the troops learned everything from positioning on the base paths to making calls at home plate.
“Make it loud. Make it clear. Leave no doubt,” major-league umpire Cris Jones urged the Marines, thundering his words with the menacing edge of a drill instructor.
The students responded withbooming voices. There's a lot of“OOORAH!” in “YOU'RE OUT!”
Some Marines participated in the camp for pleasure, while others dreamed of trading in the khaki for the blue.
Chief Warrant Officer D.J. Darling wants it bad. He's about to end a27-year career in the Corps and would like to make it into the ranks of college umpiring.
“I love baseball, but my knees are bad and I can't play anymore,” said Darling, 45, who is stationed at Camp Pendleton. “This would make a great way to combine my love of baseball with a new career.”
The idea for the camp came from Maj. Mike Dervasoni, deputy base inspector at MCRD. He attended a weeklong camp at the Compton facility in November and came away thinking that umpiring shared many parallels with being a Marine.
“From baseball's end, they are looking for a certain type of individual – someone to be in charge of a ballgame, to run a game professionally, to see that people follow orders,” Dervasoni said. “Hello. What is a Marine? Someone who takes charge. Someone who's professional. Someone who embraces order.”
So he approached Rich Rieker, a supervisor for major-league umpires and the camp's director, with the proposal for a special clinic for the Marines.
Rieker said he saw the similarities immediately.
Marines and umpiring are a natural fit, Rieker said. They both demand discipline. They both require cool heads. They both rely on split-second decision-making.
“Marines, like umpires, restore order and keep order,” Rieker said.
The demand for umpires is constant, from Little League and high school teams to the professional minor leagues and the majors.
“There is a ready market for umpires who have demonstrated the skills necessary to manage a game,” Rieker said.
It could mean part-time work sorting out squabbles between 9-year-olds on sandlots or making nationally televised calls in the majors, the latter a job that pays $120,000 to $350,000 a year but eludes all but 68 of the best of the best.
The coaches at yesterday's camp expect to decide soon whether any of the Marines merit a scholarship for training in Compton.
“We hope this might be the beginning of something for a few of these Marines,” Rieker said. “They have given so much for us that it's time to give something back.”
After making calls at the plate and down the lines, Sgt. Trey Garcia, a Camp Pendleton mechanic, took a break and considered how his job as a Marine resembled that of an umpire.
“As a Marine, your head is always on a swivel,” he said. “You have to be aware of everything going on around you.”
In combat, that means looking for snipers and roadside bombs.
In baseball, it means concentrating on the blur of running feet and streaking line drives.
“The skills are the same,” Garcia said, pausing. “But the seriousness doesn't compare.”
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates is preparing the most far-reaching changes in the Pentagon's weapons portfolio since the end of the Cold War, according to aides, the Boston Globe reports.Two defense officials who were not authorized to speak publicly said Gates will announce up to a half-dozen major weapons cancellations later this month. Candidates include a new Navy destroyer, the Air Force's F-22 fighter jet, and Army ground-combat vehicles, the officials said.More cuts are planned for later this year after a review that could lead to reductions in programs such as aircraft carriers and nuclear arms, the officials said.
The Pentagon yesterday suspended plans to move additional civilian workers from the traditional General Schedule employee classification to the controversial National Security Personnel System, according to the Washington Post.Under pressure from federal employee unions, members of Congress and a skeptical new commander in chief, the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management jointly announced that they will undertake a review of the NSPS.The system has been widely criticized by federal employees, who distrust the personnel evaluations used as part of its pay-for-performance approach. Critics also fear that the system could, at some point, hold down wages for civilian military personnel.
USA Today reports that American support for the war in Afghanistan has ebbed to a new low, as attacks on U.S. troops and their allies have hit record levels and commanders are pleading for reinforcements, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.In the poll taken Saturday and Sunday, 42% of respondents said the United States made "a mistake" in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30% in February. That's the highest mark since the poll first asked the question in November 2001 when the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government that sheltered al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks.In January 2002, 6% of respondents called the war "a mistake."Those who said the war is going well dropped to 38% in the latest poll, the lowest percentage since that question was asked in September 2006.Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, concerned about deteriorating security there, has asked for 30,000 additional U.S. troops. President Obama is sending 17,000 troops, but he has ordered a thorough review of the strategy before deciding to send any more. There are about 38,000 U.S. troops there now.
Two broadcast interview transcriptions regarding the war in Afghanistan feature in today’s Early Bird. For the transcript of a CBS interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen discussing Iraq's reconstruction and its lessons for the war in Afghanistan, click this link. For the transcript of a PBS interview with Maj.Gen Jeffrey Schloesser and others discussing the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, click this link.
American warplanes shot down an unmanned Iranian aircraft last month as it flew over Iraqi territory, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Monday, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times.The U.S. military said it had tracked the drone for about an hour and 10 minutes before shooting it down Feb. 25 about 60 miles northeast of the capital, Baghdad."This was not an accident on the part of the Iranians," the military said.
The decision not to renew Blackwater Worldwide's security contract in Iraq when it expires in early May has left the State Department scrambling to fill a protection gap for U.S. diplomats and civilian officials there, according to reports in the Washington Post and Washington Times.Two other U.S. security contractors with a far smaller presence in Iraq -- DynCorp International and Triple Canopy -- have been asked to replace the ousted company, according to State Department and company officials. To meet time, training and security-clearance pressures, officials said, one or both of the firms are likely to undertake the task by rehiring some personnel now working for Blackwater.
The Hill reports that 13 House lawmakers are pressing President Obama to buy a cheaper, less sophisticated version of the controversial new presidential helicopter.The lawmakers are warning the president that canceling the new Marine One helicopter program, whose costs have exploded in the past three years, would be “the least responsible alternative both for the safety of your office and the investment of the American taxpayers.”
A high-level bipartisan commission recommended yesterday that the Obama administration reach out to Russia in a number of ways, putting NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine on hold and taking "a new look" at the planned missile shield in eastern Europe, possibly even collaborating with Moscow on it, the Boston Globe reports.The recommendations were made as the administration has said it wants to "reset" the critically important but strained relationship. The report also came weeks before President Obama is to meet his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev, at the Group of 20 summit meeting in London on April 2.Meanwhile, CNN reports that a top Russian air force general says his country's ready to flex its muscle in America's back yard, telling a Russian news agency his military may want to land strategic bombers in Cuba. For a transcript of that piece, click this link.
Media summary
1. Leading newspaper headlines: The New York Times and Washington Post lead with, and everyone else fronts, the continuing fallout from the $165 million in bonuses that American International Group handed out to employees who were at least partly responsible for the insurance giant's fall from grace. (Slate Magazine)
2. Russia announces rearmament plan: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011. (BBC)
3. ‘Bin Laden’ attacks Arab Leaders: A new audio message said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden accuses moderate Arab leaders of conspiring with the West against Muslims. (BBC)
4. Umpiring camp for Marines could fulfill diamond dreams: As a spotter in a Humvee running down the treacherous roads of Iraq, Marine Sgt. John Miner had to focus intently. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Leading newspaper headlines
The New York Times and Washington Post lead with, and everyone else fronts, the continuing fallout from the $165 million in bonuses that American International Group handed out to employees who were at least partly responsible for the insurance giant's fall from grace. President Obama ordered his administration to "pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses" that started to go out Friday. Separately, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he would subpoena the company to find out details about the bonuses and their recipients.
The Los Angeles Times leads with a look at how President Obama has "launched an aggressive campaign-style offensive" to garner support for his agenda and make his political opponents seem irrelevant. E-mails are going out to campaign supporters asking them to call members of Congress and the White House is coordinating with grass-roots groups that are running ads targeting Republicans. Obama will even go on The Tonight Show on Thursday, marking the first time that a sitting president will appear on a late-night talk show. USA Today leads with a new poll that shows support for the war in Afghanistan has dropped to new lows. About 42 percent of Americans think it was "a mistake" to send troops to Afghanistan, a marked increase from the 30 percent who thought so in February. A mere 38 percent of Americans think the war is going well. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with news that Mohammad Khatami, Iran's reformist former president, has decided to drop out of the race. The move might make it more difficult for reformists to stop the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khatami dropped out after a reformist rival vowed to stay in the race and the former president said he didn't want to split the vote.
Coming a day after Obama's top economic advisers said that they had no choice and had to let the AIG bonuses go through, it's hard to see how the president's order to "block these bonuses" was anything besides a little grandstanding. Indeed, the WSJ says that by the end of the day, administration officials had acknowledged that there was nothing they could do to demand the recipients return the payments without getting involved in a legal fight that could very well end up being more expensive than the bonuses themselves. The LAT talks to some legal experts and concludes that at the very least it would be difficult, and might even be illegal, for the government to force employees to return payments that they were entitled to under their contracts.
To get around these legal issues, there are suggestions that the administration would write new conditions to the $30 billion installment of taxpayer money that AIG is set to receive soon. As the NYT points out, this "seemed to leave open the possibility that the company would effectively be repaying taxpayers with taxpayer money." An administration official obviously denied it, but it's difficult to see how else the company could give the money back.
Now that the American public seems to have channeled all its rage about the financial collapse into AIG (hey, at least it's a more worthy victim than Jim Cramer), questions are starting to pop up about who knew and when did they know it. The NYT says officials at the Treasury and Federal Reserve knew about the bonus program "as far back as last fall." One lawmaker—Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland—didn't get very far when he tried to obtain information about the bonuses in December. But, again according to the NYT, Timothy Geithner, the treasury secretary, didn't personally know that another round of bonuses was due on March 15 until last week. The WP takes it back even further and says AIG had publicly disclosed its plans for the payments "more than a year ago" and the details had been "widely reported." The Post also specifies that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which has overseen AIG since September, extensively looked into the issue and concluded they couldn't do anything about the bonuses. For some reason, the paper doesn't remind readers that Geithner was the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until he joined the Obama administration.
The WSJ points out that the confusing and seemingly haphazard response to what has essentially become a public relations crisis "illustrates the bind that Mr. Obama finds himself in." While he needs to convince Americans that he shares their anger, he also "needs the executives and employees of those companies to help the government untangle the current financial mess." Working at AIG now is hardly a picnic. The WP points out that there were armed guards outside the insurance giant's Financial Products division offices in Connecticut, where employees were swamped with angry phone calls and e-mails, including a few death threats. Some managers resigned, and others just didn't show up to work. "It's a mob effect," one senior executive said. "It's putting people's lives in danger."
We all need to calm down, suggests the NYT's Andrew Ross Sorkin. Giving out $165 million to the people "that nearly took down the financial system" doesn't seem to fit anyone's definition of fair but perhaps we should all just "swallow hard and pay up." Although it may seem like a cop out to say that contracts can't be broken, just imagine what could happen to the economy "if the business community started to worry that the government would start abrogating contracts left and right." Even if we set aside the issue of contracts, there's the uncomfortable fact that since "AIG built this bomb … it may be the only outfit that really knows how to defuse it." AIG's employees know where the skeletons are buried and could move to another company to make money betting against taxpayers' interests. It might be tempting to think that's not really an option because there are no jobs in Wall Street, but the truth is that "the real moneymakers in finance always have a place to go."
While we're at it, we should all ease up a bit on the attacks on banks that took bailout money and have the audacity to still hold staff retreats or sponsor events, writes the WP's Allan Sloan. "Sure, it makes for great sound bites," writes Sloan. "But it's counterproductive, because it will cost taxpayers money and make reviving our financial system more difficult." Sloan isn't talking about the AIG bonuses or Citigroup's plans to buy expensive private planes, which are true symbols of corporate excess. But rather, trips to reward employees or Northern Trust's much-maligned sponsorship of a golf tournament. All this scrutiny has motivated some banks to say they want to return government money ASAP. That attitude may be easy to mock, but it could end up costing taxpayers money. Furthermore, if healthy institutions return the money it would stigmatize the institutions that can't pay back the government. If lawmakers want to micromanage the companies, they should just take them over. "Until then, they should stop acting like children throwing spitballs."
Criticizing companies for their profligate ways is a lot like criticizing earmarks: Way too easy. The WP fronts a look at one of the most maligned earmarks in the recently passed omnibus spending bill, which involved $1 million to kill Mormon crickets. ("Is that the species of cricket or a game played by the brits?" quipped Sen. John McCain on Twitter). But the issue is far from a joke for the ranchers of Grouse Creek, Utah, who have been suffering through an invasion of the critters that have "devoured crops, frightened children and threatened families' livelihoods." Of course, many say that the problem with earmarks isn't the projects that they fund, but rather how it's all done in secret and that it could be used as an expensive thank you note to campaign contributors.
The LAT points out that demand for hybrids has plunged just as automakers are releasing more of the fuel-efficient cars than ever before. It's hardly a secret that the whole auto industry is doing badly, but hybrids are particularly difficult to get out of the sales floor because consumers are reluctant to pay a premium for fuel-efficiency when the average price of gasoline has dropped below $2 a gallon. Automakers, however, feel like they have no choice but to keep producing these types of vehicles becuase of pressure from Washington. "The automakers are in the situation of needing to pacify politicians that are in the position to bail them out with expensive fuel-efficient cars," an analyst said.
The papers report that Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal with nationalist party Yisrael Beitenu to join his government in exchange for a few important cabinet seats. If finalized, the deal could mean that the controversial leader of Yisrael Beitenu, Avigdor Lieberman, could become Israel's next foreign minister. During the campaign, Lieberman won over hard-line voters with a promise to mandate that all Israeli citizens must take a loyalty oath. The agreement doesn't mention a loyalty oath, but also has no mention of peace talks or a peace process. But it does pledge to topple Hamas and vow that the government won't negotiate with terrorist groups.
In the NYT's op-ed page, Patrick French writes that the decision by the Pakistani government to hand power over the Swat Valley to the "Pakistani Taliban" was a "foolish bargain" that "represents the most serious blow to the country's territorial integrity since the civil war of 1971." The once-popular tourist destination that is merely 100 miles from Islamabad "is not one of Pakistan's wild border areas" but has now ostensibly become a terrorist sanctuary. The situation is similar to what happened in Afghanistan in the 1990s, when the government slowly allowed the Taliban to take over. Pakistan's politicians must "recognize the real and immediate danger of the Islamist threat," writes French. "If they do not, their country risks becoming a nuclear-armed Afghanistan."
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Russia announces rearmament plan
President Medvedev wants to increase the combat readiness of Russian forces
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow will begin a comprehensive military rearmament from 2011.
Mr Medvedev said the primary task would be to "increase the combat readiness of [Russia's] forces, first of all our strategic nuclear forces".
Explaining the move, he cited concerns over Nato expansion near Russia's borders and regional conflicts.
Last year, the Kremlin set out plans to increase spending on Russia's armed forces over the next two years.
Russia will spend nearly $140bn (£94.5bn) on buying arms up until 2011.
Higher oil revenues in recent years have allowed the Kremlin to increase the military budget, analysts say. But prices have averaged $40 a barrel in 2009 compared with $100 last year.
Outdated equipment
In his first address to a defence ministry meeting in his capacity as supreme commander, Mr Medvedev said considerable sums are being channelled towards developing and purchasing modern military equipment.
Inside Russia's military
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"Despite the financial problems we have to cope with today, the size of these sums has remained virtually the same as planned."
Analysts say the brief war in Georgia exposed problems with outdated equipment and practices within Russia's armed forces and led to calls for military modernisation.
President Medvedev's remarks also appear significant for what they say about the diplomatic game between Moscow and the new administration in the United States, says the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow.
Both sides are looking for a solution to issues - such as US missile defence plans in Europe - which bitterly divided the Kremlin and the White House during the Bush administration. Neither, though, seems willing simply to abandon previously-held positions, our correspondent adds.
The Russian Security Council is currently developing a new military doctrine which is expected to reflect current and forthcoming international developments, including any changes Nato may set out this year, missile defence deployments and WMD proliferation.
"The Security Council will approve Russia's national security strategy until 2020 in the near future," President Medvedev said.
Watch Tim Whewell's films on the Russian military on Newsnight on Tuesday, 18 March and Wednesday, 19 March, 2009 at 10.30pm on
BBC Two.
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'Bin Laden' attacks Arab leaders
The last tape attributed to Bin Laden emerged in January
A new audio message said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden accuses moderate Arab leaders of conspiring with the West against Muslims.
Bin Laden, who has been America's most wanted man since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, also renews his attacks on Israel in the recording attributed to him.
It was broadcast by the Qatari-based TV channel al-Jazeera which did not say how it had been obtained.
Correspondents say the voice sounds similar to previous Bin laden tapes.
"It is clear that some Arab leaders have plotted with the Zionist-Crusader [Israel-Western] coalition against our people," the speaker on the tape says, without naming any leader.
"These are the leaders that America calls moderate."
He also accuses Israel of war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where it waged an offensive earlier this year, leaving some 1,300 people dead.
The speaker calls for a renewed jihad and urges militants to first conquer Iraq and then Jordan, which can be used as a route into the West Bank.
The last recorded message said to be from Osama Bin Laden was released in mid-January and called for a holy war to stop the Israeli offensive against Gaza.
Osama Bin Laden is believed to be living in the tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with a multi-million dollar US bounty on his head.
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Umpiring camp for Marines could fulfill diamond dreams
By David Hasemyer (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. March 17, 2009
Camp director Rich Rieker (left) instructed Marines such as Chief Petty Officer Rob Patton on the basics of umpiring. (Nancee E. Lewis / Union-Tribune) -
More than 80 service members were among the attendees at yesterday's umpiring class at SDSU. (Nancee E. Lewis / Union-Tribune)
As a spotter in a Humvee running down the treacherous roads of Iraq, Marine Sgt. John Miner had to focus intently.
He looked left, right and left again, scanning the area for explosives. Miner, a machine-gunner who completed two combat tours between 2005 and 2007, had just an instant to spot a bomb and make the call to stop his vehicle or take evasive action.
He needed to be decisive under pressure – the same attribute he put to the test yesterday behind home plate at Tony Gwynn Stadium at San Diego State University.
“The Marine Corps teaches you to make fast decisions and make the right decisions,” Miner said. “That's the same thing a good baseball umpire needs to do.”
Miner was among more than 80 service members from Camp Pendleton, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot and the Twentynine Palms Air Ground Combat Center to attend a one-day umpiring class at SDSU. The San Diego Padres and Major League Baseball Umpire Camps sponsored the first-time event.
The camp offered Marines a chance to train in the skill of umpiring and possibly win scholarships to attend Professional Umpire Camp at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy, a year-round facility in Compton.
During yesterday's session, the troops learned everything from positioning on the base paths to making calls at home plate.
“Make it loud. Make it clear. Leave no doubt,” major-league umpire Cris Jones urged the Marines, thundering his words with the menacing edge of a drill instructor.
The students responded withbooming voices. There's a lot of“OOORAH!” in “YOU'RE OUT!”
Some Marines participated in the camp for pleasure, while others dreamed of trading in the khaki for the blue.
Chief Warrant Officer D.J. Darling wants it bad. He's about to end a27-year career in the Corps and would like to make it into the ranks of college umpiring.
“I love baseball, but my knees are bad and I can't play anymore,” said Darling, 45, who is stationed at Camp Pendleton. “This would make a great way to combine my love of baseball with a new career.”
The idea for the camp came from Maj. Mike Dervasoni, deputy base inspector at MCRD. He attended a weeklong camp at the Compton facility in November and came away thinking that umpiring shared many parallels with being a Marine.
“From baseball's end, they are looking for a certain type of individual – someone to be in charge of a ballgame, to run a game professionally, to see that people follow orders,” Dervasoni said. “Hello. What is a Marine? Someone who takes charge. Someone who's professional. Someone who embraces order.”
So he approached Rich Rieker, a supervisor for major-league umpires and the camp's director, with the proposal for a special clinic for the Marines.
Rieker said he saw the similarities immediately.
Marines and umpiring are a natural fit, Rieker said. They both demand discipline. They both require cool heads. They both rely on split-second decision-making.
“Marines, like umpires, restore order and keep order,” Rieker said.
The demand for umpires is constant, from Little League and high school teams to the professional minor leagues and the majors.
“There is a ready market for umpires who have demonstrated the skills necessary to manage a game,” Rieker said.
It could mean part-time work sorting out squabbles between 9-year-olds on sandlots or making nationally televised calls in the majors, the latter a job that pays $120,000 to $350,000 a year but eludes all but 68 of the best of the best.
The coaches at yesterday's camp expect to decide soon whether any of the Marines merit a scholarship for training in Compton.
“We hope this might be the beginning of something for a few of these Marines,” Rieker said. “They have given so much for us that it's time to give something back.”
After making calls at the plate and down the lines, Sgt. Trey Garcia, a Camp Pendleton mechanic, took a break and considered how his job as a Marine resembled that of an umpire.
“As a Marine, your head is always on a swivel,” he said. “You have to be aware of everything going on around you.”
In combat, that means looking for snipers and roadside bombs.
In baseball, it means concentrating on the blur of running feet and streaking line drives.
“The skills are the same,” Garcia said, pausing. “But the seriousness doesn't compare.”
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