U.S. Afghanistan War Poll

Afghan war poll triggers Obama political alarms L.A. Times — As President Obama concludes weeks of intense -- and increasingly desperate -- salesmanship on his keystone and embattled healthcare reform plans, a discouraging alarm arrived today that he may soon have to devote his selling skills toward a less interesting but more dangerous area of concern for him: The war in Afghanistan. Secure parts of that country vote in a presidential election Thursday. And quietly coming through the bureaucratic defense pipeline is a request for even more U.S. troops, on top of the compromise 17,000 additional Obama approved last winter. click to read complete article

We ignore Afghanistan at our strategic peril The Australian — 2nd articleThose who seek to discredit the Afghan elections are not doing its people any favours IN many ways, it is a tale of two armies. Perhaps the most important mistake the Bush administration made after the invasion of Iraq was to disband that nation's army. A Lebanese friend of mine, a man steeped in all the ways of his region, told me recently: "It was necessary for the Americans to get rid of Saddam Hussein. But in Iraq, they only needed to change the decision maker, they shouldn't have destroyed the one institution that bound the country together." click to read complete article

Obama defends Afghan war as 'necessity' Belfast Telegraph — US President Barack Obama has defended the ongoing war in Afghanistan following a significant rise in US-British fatalities in the country in recent months. In a speech to US military veterans yesterday, Mr Obama said the fight against insurgents would not be easy and the Taliban would not be defeated overnight. However, he insisted that the conflict was a "necessity" and was a war worth fighting. click to read complete article

Japanese Elections

Japan's Twitter-Free Election Campaign Time Magazine — Campaigning officially kicked off Tuesday in Japan as candidates for the Diet's upcoming elections took to the streets to canvas for votes. And while the Aug. 30 general election could be revolutionary — with Japan on the cusp of a regime change that could end nearly 54 years of virtually unbroken rule — candidates' official campaigning methods are far from it. With 12 days to go until national elections, candidates rode in vans, armed with banners, leaflets and loudspeakers for soapbox speeches at train stations and street corners across the nation. But as their names were blared out on the first day of political open season, their campaigns on Twitter and Facebook were silent. One thing that Japanese politicians aren't armed with is the Internet. click to read complete article

Japan’s Opposition May Press BOJ to Buy More Government Bonds Bloomberg — Japan’s opposition party may press the central bank to purchase more government bonds should it win this month’s general election, economists say. Lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Japan, which is favored to gain power for the first time after the Aug. 30 election, have said they value the Bank of Japan’s autonomy. That respect would be tested if the party’s pledge to spend more on social programs forces the Finance Ministry to increase bond sales. Analysts say the DPJ would be tempted to urge the central bank to buy the debt to contain an increase in yields. click to read complete article

Hatoyama's 'new politics' threaten to obliterate Aso The Australian — IT may well produce a historic result but Japan's general election campaign was officially launched yesterday in familiar style, with Opposition Leader Yukio Hatoyama offering "new politics" and Prime Minister Taro Aso asking: where's the money coming from? "The day to make history has finally come," said Mr Hatoyama at a street meeting in Osaka, the start of a six-city barnstorm finishing in Tokyo yesterday evening. click to read complete article

U.S. Iraq Exit Strategy

One Step Backward, Two Steps Forward Newsweek — For all appearances, the U.S. presence in Iraq is slowly winding down. A brigade of U.S. troops (about 3,500 of the 130,000 here) will leave this month and not be replaced; another will follow in the fall. Meanwhile, the Iraqi cabinet today proposed a referendum on the U.S. presence of during national elections in January, which could force an even quicker exit. But even as the United States wraps up here, America's top general in Iraq is contemplating a high-profile, high-risk new assignment for U.S. troops, putting them into the breach between Arab and Kurdish armies, attempting to quell (but possibly inflaming) ethnic tensions. It's a sort of Godfather moment for American forces: just when they think they're getting out, they get pulled back in. click to read complete article

US Commander Wants More Troops in Northern Iraq Voice Of America — The top U.S. commander in Iraq says he wants to station more American soldiers in disputed areas of northern Iraq where there has been a recent spike in violence. General Ray Odierno said Monday U.S. soldiers would partner with both Iraqi government and Kurdish troops to secure the region marked with tension between Arabs and Kurds. click to read complete article

US troops to return to Iraq despite Barack Obama’s withdrawal plan London Times — The US military plans to send thousands of American soldiers back to the oil-rich north of Iraq to prevent a civil war between Arabs and Kurds. The emergency move, which partially reverses a recent drawing- down, is the first major sign that President Obama’s withdrawal plan may not work. He wants all US combat troops out of Iraq within 12 months. click to read complete article

Hillary Clinton's Africa Trip

Clinton's Africa trip highlights importance US attaches to the continent Deutche Welle — Hillary Clinton kicked off the 11-day trip in Kenya and US officials were keen to emphasize that her trip to Africa was the earliest by a secretary of state to the continent of any administration. Dominic Johnson, who writes on African affairs for the German TAZ newspaper, told Deutsche Welle that, "the purpose of the tour is for the US to establish contact with Africa and provide high visibility for US policy. Hillary Clinton will say what she thinks of African governing policies. It's not to establish trade ties as no contracts have been signed." click to read complete article

Clinton’s agenda makes women’s issues a priority The Boston Globe — She talked chickens with female farmers in Kenya. She listened to the excruciating stories of rape victims in war-torn eastern Congo. And in South Africa, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited a housing project built by poor women, where she danced with a choir that was singing her name. Clinton’s seven-country trip to Africa, which ends today, has sent the clearest signal yet that she intends to make women’s rights one of her signature issues and a higher priority than ever before in American diplomacy. click to read complete article

Secretary Clinton's Opportunity: Ending the World's Two Deadliest Wars The Huffington Post — n the aftermath of Secretary of State Clinton's trip to Africa, the U.S. has a chance to help bring an end to two of the great unfolding tragedies of the 21st century. Together, Sudan and Congo represent two of Africa's largest countries, two of Africa's richest natural resource bases, two of Africa's longest wars, two of the world's deadliest conflicts in the past half century, two of the continent's most predatory governments, and two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or a girl. That is a legacy that deserves and demands a rethink of the international response, which has allowed these wars to burn for years. click to read complete article

The Future of Fatah

Gaza Fatah leaders quit in protest Arab News — Eleven senior leaders from the Gaza Strip of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party resigned in protest on Wednesday over the election process and results of their movement’s top decision-making body. The 11 members of Fatah’s highest committee in the Gaza Strip complained that Fatah members from the Gaza Strip were underrepresented in the newly elected, 23-member Central Committee. click to read complete article

Fatah Party Election Brings in a New Generation New York Times — Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian nationalist party, elected a mostly new leadership committee, ushering in a younger generation and ousting some prominent veterans, according to preliminary results released here on Tuesday. The new leaders are considered more pragmatic than their predecessors and grew up locally, in contrast to the exile-dominated leadership they are replacing. But many are familiar names who have already played active roles in Palestinian society and the peace process, and their election to the committee is not expected to bring about significant changes in Fatah policies. click to read complete article

Fatah vote gives boost to Abbas The Jerusalem Post — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has emerged victorious from the elections for Fatah's Central Committee, as almost all his preferred candidates won seats in the key decision-making body. The elections were held in the context of Fatah's sixth General Assembly, which convened for the first time in 20 years in Bethlehem last week. click to read complete article

Obama - Health Care

Obama attacks healthcare insurers Aljazeera — The US president has launched an attack on insurance companies who he accuses of limiting people's access to medical care, during a town hall session on health reform. Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Americans are often "held hostage" by insurance companies that deny or drop clients' coverage or charge excessive fees. click to read complete article

Obama defends ability of government on health care Associated Press — President Barack Obama says Americans wary of a government-run health care plan should look no further than Medicare. Critics of Obama's overhaul effort say creation of a public plan to compete with private insurance adds up to a government takeover. Obama told a New Hampshire town hall Tuesday that he received one letter from a woman who said "keep your hands off my Medicare." click to read complete article

High Fees Common in Medical Care, Survey Finds New York Times — A patient in Illinois was charged $12,712 for cataract surgery. Medicare pays $675 for the same procedure. In California, a patient was charged $20,120 for a knee operation that Medicare pays $584 for. And a New Jersey patient was charged $72,000 for a spinal fusion procedure that Medicare covers for $1,629. The charges are among a long list of high fees cited in a survey released online Tuesday by America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 health insurance companies. The group said it had used Medicare payments for comparison because Medicare was so familiar and payments are, on average, about 80 percent of what private insurers pay. click to read complete article

North American Summit

Drugs gangs, flu dominate North American summit Agence France Press — US President Barack Obama joined the leaders of Canada and Mexico on Monday to fine tune the fight against swine flu, murderous drugs gangs and economic recession at the North American summit. At the quick summit in the western city of Guadalajara Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper targeted incremental change rather than breakthroughs. click to read complete article

Canada to train Mexican officers fighting drug cartels. Canada.com — Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Sunday that Canada will train Mexican police officers to assist Mexico in its brutal war against rival drug cartels. The announcement came as the prime minister touched down here for a two-day summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and U.S. President Barack Obama. click to read complete article

Obama Promises Calderon Solution to U.S.-Mexico Trucking Spat Bloomberg — President Barack Obama told his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon that he is committed to resolving a dispute over truck access to U.S. highways. Obama said he will also address safety concerns about the trucks raised by the U.S. Congress, an administration official said after the two leaders met in Guadalajara yesterday at a summit of North American leaders. Calderon told Obama that the dispute has hurt trade, raised consumer costs and reduced job creation, according to a statement from his press office. click to read complete article