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Iraq troop withdrawal. Obama Lays Out Iraq Plans at N.C. Base "President Obama called on Iraqis to take control of their own destiny when American forces withdraw, mapping out plans on Friday for a dramatic reduction of U.S. troops by the end of August 2010." With Pledges to Troops and Iraqis, Obama Details Pullout "President Obama declared the beginning of the end of one of the longest and most divisive wars in American history on Friday as he announced that he would withdraw combat forces from Iraq by August 2010 and all remaining troops by December 2011." Obama sees most troops out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010 "President Obama announced a timetable Friday for a drastic reduction in troops in Iraq, but faced objections from war critics over his plans to leave behind a substantial "transitional force." Obama Sets Timetable for Iraq "President Obama yesterday fulfilled a campaign promise by setting a date for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq, declaring that while the country they will leave behind will not be perfect, the United States will have reached its "achievable goals" and must move on." Gates Defends Iraq Withdrawal Plan "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, the only cabinet holdover from the Bush Administration, on Sunday defended President Obama's strategy for withdrawing troops from Iraq."
Budget. Obama's budget: Taxing for fairness or class warfare? "From front to back and on nearly every page, President Obama's new budget plan delivers a stark message: It's time for the rich to lighten the load on the middle class." Battle Lines Quickly Set Over Planned Policy Shifts "Battle lines are rapidly hardening over the broad policy shifts, massive deficits and tax increases President Obama unveiled last week in his first budget request, a 10-year spending plan thick with political friction points." Economy Shrinks At Staggering Rate "The prospects for an economic recovery by year's end dimmed yesterday, as government data showed that the economy contracted at the end of 2008 by the fastest pace in a quarter-century." Sharper Downturn Clouds Obama Spending Plans"The economy is spiraling down at an accelerating pace, threatening to undermine the Obama administration's spending plans, which anticipate vigorous rates of growth in years to come."
Sibelius to HHS. Governor Of Kansas Tapped to Lead HHS "Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius yesterday accepted President Obama's request to become his secretary of health and human services, stepping into a central role in the new administration's ambitious effort to overhaul the nation's health-care system." For Obama Pick, 2nd Chance for Progress on Health "In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is known as a Democrat who can deal with Republicans, a necessity in a state where the opposition party dominates both houses of the Legislature." Sebelius's Political Skills, Experience Win Plaudits "Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has never lost an election, even as a Democrat in a Republican-dominated state, something analysts attribute to cool competence, a lifelong education in politics and a knack for reaching across the political divide."
Immigration. Immigration rally focuses on families "Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) made the church his second stop on a 17-city "Family Unity" tour to encourage immigration reform. He said 5 million American children have a parent who has been deported or is in the process of being deported." March against the sheriff "Several thousand people marched nearly 4 miles in central Phoenix on Saturday to protest Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the federal program that allows his deputies to enforce immigration laws." Concerns arise over fast-track deportation program "The number of detainees in California and across the nation who agreed to be deported without first seeing a judge jumped fivefold between 2004 and 2007, from 5,481 to nearly 31,554. In the first half of 2008, 17,445 speedy deportation orders were signed."
White House web. Obama Team Finds It Hard to Adapt Its Web Savvy to Government "The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model to government. WhiteHouse.gov, envisioned as the primary vehicle for President Obama to communicate with the online masses, has been overwhelmed by challenges that staffers did not foresee and technological problems they have yet to solve."
Dobson resigns. Focus on the Family's Dobson Resigns Post "James Dobson, a child psychologist who became a leader of the religious right, announced yesterday he was stepping down as board chairman of Focus on the Family, the megaministry he and his wife started 32 years ago." Dobson to leave Focus helm "James Dobson is stepping down as chairman of Focus on the Family, the conservative religious group announced Friday -- a change that comes as the political movement Dobson has long embodied has been torn by questions over its direction and priorities."
Obama & Brown to meet. Two leaders, one priority: the economy "Barack Obama is reaching out to Gordon Brown to help deliver an international climate change treaty and steer the world towards economic recovery in the face of a fiercely protectionist mood in the US and elsewhere that could plunge the world into a full-scale depression." Brown heads to Washington in hope of a dividend "Gordon Brown will this week seek to re-cast relations with America around an emphasis on the values and policy agenda he shares with President Obama, rather than on the military alliance that has characterised the transatlantic partnership in recent years."
Gaza. Donors pledge $3bn to rebuild Gaza "International donors have pledged $3bn to help rebuild Gaza and regenerate the Palestinian economy after Israel's 22-day war on the territory." U.S. to limit its aid for Gaza "The Obama administration intends to spend most of a $900-million Palestinian aid package on support for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, rather than in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip communities that were badly damaged in the recent weeks-long Israeli offensive," Tough Options For Clinton on Trip to Mideast "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton this week will make her first foray into Middle East diplomacy, attending a high-level conference on humanitarian assistance to Gaza and making the rounds of Israeli and Palestinian officials, at a time when a growing chorus of voices in the United States say the peace process needs a dramatically new approach."
Iran. Iran has enough nuclear material for a bomb, Mullen says "The nation's top military officer said Sunday that Iran had enough nuclear material to make a bomb, but Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tehran was not close to building such a weapon." U.S. Says Iran Has Material for an Atomic Bomb "The United States now believes that Iran has amassed enough uranium that with further purification could be used to build an atomic bomb, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared Sunday."
Pakistan. Pakistan says missile strike kills 8 near Afghan border "A missile attack Sunday near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, believed to have been carried out by a U.S. drone aircraft, killed at least eight people, Pakistani officials said." Deaths in Pakistan 'US drone' raid "At least nine people have been killed and eight wounded after a suspected US drone aircraft fired missiles into a Pakistani region bordering Afghanistan,"
Kenya. Starvation and Strife Menace Torn Kenya "Ten million people face starvation, partly because farmers in crucial food-producing areas who fled their homes last year have not returned, instead withdrawing deeper into their ethnic enclaves, deeper into fear."
Sudan. Uncertainty as Sudan awaits president's arrest "As if anyone in the Sudanese capital needed any reminders, an arrest warrant on genocide charges is expected to be issued against Bashir on Wednesday by the International Criminal Court, in a case that threatens to send the country down a path of uncertainty and instability."
Afghanistan. Many in Afghanistan oppose Obama's troop buildup plans "Parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai says she has an innovative amendment to Washington's planned injection of up to 30,000 new troops here. "Send us 30,000 scholars instead. Or 30,000 engineers. But don't send more troops - it will just bring more violence." Afghan President Moves Up August Elections "President Hamid Karzai decreed Saturday that presidential elections be moved forward to April or May, just weeks after they were set for August, in what appears to be an attempt to avert constitutional challenges to his legitimacy."
Editorial. ICE fishing (Los Angeles Times) "What does raise eyebrows, though, was that almost three-quarters of those arrested by ICE's fugitive operations teams did not have criminal records. In other words, the agency, brawny with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding and a 1,300% increase in staffing, was nabbing lots of waiters and car-washers whose only crime beyond their illegal entry was to have ignored a deportation order. Not exactly high security threats."
Opinion. The Re-Redistributor (E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post) "Starting with this week's congressional budget hearings, it will be imperative to recognize the extent to which President Obama's fiscal plan and the direction he set in his foreign policy speech on Friday have transformed the terms of the nation's debate. The central issue in American politics now is whether the country should reverse a three-decade-long trend of rising inequality in incomes and wealth."
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