News politics 2008-07-20 Andanh.com

Obama: Step up effort against Taliban, al-Qaida Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:22 EDT
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Sunday the United States, NATO and Afghanistan must do more to combat the Taliban and al-Qaida, and he urged stronger steps to prod Pakistan into eliminating cross-border terrorist training camps.

"Our message to the Afghan government is this: We want a strong partnership based on 'more for more' - more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people," Obama and Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. and Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a written statement after departing Afghanistan.

Separately, in a broadcast interview, Obama suggested the U.S. link continued military aid to Pakistan to the government's willingness to combat terrorists in a lawless region astride its border with Afghanistan.

"I think that the U.S. government provides an awful lot of aid to Pakistan, provides a lot of military support to Pakistan. And to send a clear message to Pakistan that this is important, to them as well as to us," he said. "I think that message has not been sent."

Security problems in Afghanistan cannot be solved, he said, "without engaging the Pakistan government."

Obama to speak near Berlin's Brandenburg Gate Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:22 EDT
Barack Obama's campaign said Sunday he will give a speech on the future of trans-Atlantic relations in front of a Prussian war monument in downtown Berlin - in view of the historic Brandenburg Gate.

The announcement that he will speak at the Victory Column, or Siegessaeule, ended weeks of speculation here. It also triggered criticism that the 226-foot column built in 1873 to celebrate Prussian war victories over Denmark, Austria and France was an inappropriate choice.

One of Berlin's best-known monuments, the column is topped by a golden, winged figure representing Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. It stood in front of Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, until the late 1930s when Adolf Hitler's architect Albert Speer moved it to its current location in the middle of the Tiergarten park as part of uncompleted plans for a grandiose remake of the capital.

"I ask myself whether Obama was well advised to choose the Siegessaeule as a place for a speech on his vision for global cooperation," Rainer Bruederle of the opposition Free Democrats was quoted as telling the Bild am Sonntag weekly.

Since German reunification, the column has become known as the central location for Berliners to party.

Unlike McCain, many seniors depend on the Web Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:47 EDT
If Sen. John McCain is really serious about becoming a Web-savvy citizen, perhaps Kathryn Robinson can help.

Robinson is now 106 - that's 35 years older than McCain - and she began using the Internet at 98, at the Barclay Friends home in West Chester, Pa., where she lives. "I started to learn because I wanted to e-mail my family," she says - in an e-mail message, naturally.

Blogs have been buzzing recently over McCain's admission that when it comes to the Internet, "I'm an illiterate who has to rely on his wife for any assistance he can get." And the 71-year-old presumptive Republican nominee, asked about his Web use last week by the New York Times, said that aides "go on for me. I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself."

How unusual is it for a 71-year-old American to be unplugged?

That depends how you look at the statistics. Only 35 percent of Americans over age 65 are online, according to data from April and May compiled by the Pew Internet Project at the Pew Research Center.

From shipping lobbyist to McCain adviser Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:27 EDT
Playing a dual role as shipping lobbyist and member of a federal advisory panel, John McCain's campaign policy coordinator helped shape a controversial homeland security initiative that has taken the government 5 1/2 years to develop.

The proposed program called "10+2" points out a key problem in the age of terrorism: How much can the government expect U.S. importers to pay to help ensure the country's safety?

A former chief of staff to McCain, Christopher Koch in 2000 set up the World Shipping Council to lobby on behalf of some 40 foreign-based and U.S. ocean carriers. The companies transport half a trillion dollars worth of U.S. exports and imports annually. The group has spent $1.7 million seeking to influence the federal government on a range of maritime issues.

In May, Koch de-registered as a lobbyist, took a leave of absence from the World Shipping Council and joined McCain's campaign. He plans to return to the shipping council after the election.

In keeping with what McCain says is a strict policy to free his campaign from lobbyist influence, Koch has recused himself from dealing with the topics on which he has lobbied. He said in an e-mail that if a specific issue regarding regulation of the liner shipping industry were to arise as a presidential campaign issue, he would not participate in any campaign policy decisions about it.

Rice: Obama's success is great gain for blacks Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:22 EDT
Condoleezza Rice says it's a remarkable accomplishment that a black politician is on track for his party's presidential nomination.

The secretary of state said Democrat Barack Obama's likely nomination shows the nation's progress in race relations.

"I think it's great, and I think it's great for our country," Rice said of Obama's candidacy.

Rice noted that Colin Powell was the first black person to be America's top diplomat. She is the second.

"It just shows that our country has been doing this for a while and it's great that this last barrier perhaps, has also come down," she said in a broadcast interview that aired Sunday.

Gore: Clinton campaign changed perception of women Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:22 EDT
Al Gore said Sunday that Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for the White House helped change society's perception of women.

But the former vice president, who has endorsed Barack Obama, demurred when asked whether the New York senator was treated unfairly during the campaign because of her gender.

"I think that women often face these kinds of challenges, of course, in our society," Gore said in a broadcast interview.

"But I think that she did an amazing job in changing that, as I think Senator Obama and Bill Richardson, where Hispanics are concerned, also made it possible for our country to move on into the 21st century and say, 'Wait a minute, these old things that held us down in the past, we're now within sight of a time when we can move beyond that,'" Gore said.

Obama defeated Clinton for the Democratic nomination in a matchup that featured a black man against a woman. Obama clinched the nomination in June, becoming the first black candidate to represent a major party in the race for the presidency.

Obama to speak at Berlin's Victory Column Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:37 EDT
Barack Obama's office said Sunday he will give a speech on the U.S. partnership with Germany and trans-Atlantic relations in front of the gold-topped Victory Column, or Siegessaeule, in the heart of downtown Berlin.

The Democratic presidential contender's office said the speech would focus on the need to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations to meet 21st century challenges.

The Siegessaeule is one of Berlin's best-known monuments and stands about a mile from the historic Brandenburg Gate where Obama had wanted to speak. The gate is a symbol of the Cold War and the spot where former President Reagan delivered a memorable speech.

However, Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear she didn't like the idea and Obama's campaign has sought to minimize any controversy.

The Victory Column, built to commemorate Prussian victories over Denmark, Austria and France., was completed in 1873. One of Berlin's best-known monuments, it is topped by a winged golden figure meant to represent Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. The column is within direct sight of the Brandenburg Gate.

McCain loves town halls, but it's not mutual Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:42 EDT

DENVER . John McCain was in his favorite campaign setting, a town-hall meeting, when he spotted a promising target. .I'd love to recognize you first, sir,. the Republican presidential candidate said to a man in a Vietnam War veteran's hat.

Instead of a softball opening question from a fellow vet, however, McCain got a lengthy harangue, as the man insisted the senator had opposed better medical benefits for veterans.

McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, politely said the man was mistaken. He finally broke it off, saying, .I'll be glad to examine what your version of my record is..

The July 7 episode in Denver underscored the iffy nature of a campaign strategy that McCain seems to adore. Town-hall sessions . in which he makes opening remarks and takes questions for an hour or more . have become McCain's staple, and he constantly needles Democratic opponent Barack Obama for not joining him onstage.

Television News shows Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:48 EDT

Fox News Sunday

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Earl Morse, founder of Honor Flight, a program of free flights for World War II veterans.

9 a.m., Fox-56

Meet the Press

Giuliani takes McCain out to the ballgame Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:37 EDT
With Democrat Barack Obama on the other side of the planet, Republican presidential candidate John McCain stayed closer to home Sunday, visiting Yankee Stadium with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

The two high-profile Republicans are longtime friends, despite having campaigned against each other in the GOP primaries in which McCain ultimately prevailed. When Giuliani bowed out of the race, he immediately endorsed McCain.

Could Giuliani, who moonlights as the No. 1 Yankee fan, become the No. 2 on the Republican ticket?

"You hear all kinds of stuff, but I'm not thinking about anything but helping to get him elected," Giuliani said. "Beyond the fact that he's the candidate of my party, he's a very good friend."

Before the game, McCain, Giuliani and Giuliani's wife, Judith, went onto the field, chatting with Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Oakland A's manager Bob Geren.

Obama stops in Kuwait on way to Afghanistan Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:42 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan . Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan Saturday, opening a high-stakes foreign trip in a country that is increasingly the focus of his clash with Sen. John McCain in the presidential campaign over whether the war in Iraq has been a distraction in hunting down terrorists.

As Obama met with U.S. troops, military leaders and regional officials in eastern Afghanistan, he made no public statements in his first hours on the ground here, the first stop on a weeklong trip that also will take him to Iraq, Israel and Western Europe.

But McCain quickly sought to raise questions about Obama's judgment on foreign policy in a radio address on Saturday. .In a time of war,. McCain said, .the commander-in-chief's job doesn't get a learning curve..

Obama flew to eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan, to get a first-hand look at the region where U.S. troops are feeling the brunt of increased attacks from militants infiltrating the border from Pakistan. In selecting Afghanistan as the opening stop of his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic nominee, he was seeking to highlight what he says is its importance as the key front in the fight against terrorism.

Chinese Dir