Security
From NBC’s Pete Williams
In the world's first criminal trial of CIA officials over the practice known as "rendition," an Italian judge today found nearly two-dozen American citizens guilty of kidnapping. The U.S. has used renditions to take suspected terrorists from one foreign country to another for questioning or to the U.S. None of the U.S. defendants were ever in the courtroom: they were tried in absentia.
The case involved a radical Egyptian cleric, Abu Omar, who was picked up on a street in Milan in February 2003 and taken to Egypt. When he was released four years later, he claimed he was brutally tortured by the Egyptian intelligence service. Italian authorities then prosecuted the Americans and members of Italy's military intelligence service.
Today, the judge sentenced 22 of the Americans to five years in prison. The other, a former CIA station chief in Milan, was sentenced to eight years. Three other Americans were originally charged, but the judge ruled today that they had diplomatic immunity. Because they were not in Italy during the trial, they remain free.
The trial has been a sore point in relations between the U.S. and Italy. Despite calls from international human rights groups, the Italians have not sought the extradition of the Americans. Prosecutors there say they will try again, but that will be up to Italy's justice ministry.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Athena Jones
President Obama called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to congratulate him on being named the winner of that country's election, and urged him to work to improve governance and end corruption there.
Karzai was named the victor when his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of a runoff election scheduled for Nov. 7. The second round was called after allegations of fraud -- backed up by international monitors -- marred the August vote. But Abdullah argued that not enough protections had been put in place to avoid a repeat of the earlier problems.
Video: President Hamid Karzai won a second term after the Afghan election commission canceled the scheduled runoff race. How will this affect President Obama's decision on troop deployment to the region?
Administration officials have consistently contended the United States must have a credible, legitimate partner heading the government in Afghanistan in order to accomplish America's chief national security goals of denying Al Qaeda a safe haven in the country and preventing the Taliban from taking over there.
Obama's remarks echoed those of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who told reporters earlier in the day that Karzai was the country's legitimate leader, but stopped short of calling him a credible partner. The president said Afghanistan's electoral was "messy," but that the final outcome was in line with Afghanistan's constitution.
CONTINUED >>
”Afghan election officials canceled a presidential runoff and proclaimed the reelection of President Hamid Karzai on Monday, a day after Karzai's top challenger declared he would not take part in a second round of voting scheduled for Saturday because of a persistent risk of fraud,” the Washington Post says.
The Boston Globe calls it Karzai's "win by default." And it adds this context: "American officials hope to help restore legitimacy to Karzai’s government by en couraging him to build a reform-minded government that is ethnically representative and includes Abdullah’s followers. US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and UN mission chief Kai Eide negotiated with the two camps late into the night Saturday about a power-sharing deal, according to the Western diplomat. But the negotiations broke down early yesterday when Karzai refused a formula for dividing Cabinet posts. If the deal had been accepted, Abdullah would have conceded rather than simply withdraw his candidacy, the diplomat said. Abdullah’s decision not to call for a boycott may indicate he is open to talks."
Video:
A Morning Meeting panel discusses whether the cancellation of the runoff election in Afghanistan will impact President Obama's decision on troop deployment
The
New York Times’ analysis wonders if the Karzai government will have legitimacy. “It will not be easy. As the evidence mounted in late summer that Mr. Karzai’s forces had sought to win re-election through widespread fraud to defeat his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, administration officials made no secret of their disgust. How do you consider sending tens of thousands of additional American troops, they asked in meetings in the White House, to prop up an Afghan government regarded as illegitimate by many of its own people? The answer was supposed to be a runoff election. Now, administration officials argue that Mr. Karzai will have to regain that legitimacy by changing the way he governs, at a moment when he is politically weaker than at any time since 2001.”
Abdullah Abdullah's decision to boycott his state's runoff election
does not complicate the president's plans for Afghanistan, White House aide Valerie Jarrett said Sunday. Rather, Abdullah's withdrawal from the November contest because of concerns about its fairness is a mostly 'political' move that 'does not markedly change the situation,' explained White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod."
"President Barack Obama is considering a scaled-down version of the war plan advanced by his top Afghanistan commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. officials say," the AP says. "Such a narrowed military mission would increase American forces to accomplish the commander's broadest goals of protecting Afghan cities and key infrastructure. But with fewer troops, the strategy likely would cut back on McChrystal's ambitious objectives, amounting to what one official described as 'McChrystal Light.' ... A stripped-down approach would signal caution in widening a war that is going worse this year than last despite intense U.S. attention and an additional 21,000 U.S. forces sent there on Obama's watch."
Per the Washington Post, “President Obama has asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan to determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help, information that his advisers say will guide his decision on how many additional U.S. troops to send to the battle.”
More: “Obama made the request in a meeting Monday with Vice President Biden and a small group of senior advisers helping him decide whether to expand the war. The detail he is now seeking also reflects the administration's turn toward Afghanistan's provincial governors, tribal leaders and local militias as potentially more effective partners in the effort than a historically weak central government that is confronting questions of legitimacy after the flawed Aug. 20 presidential election.”
The New York Times looks at the challenge the shortage of the swine flu vaccine presents for the Obama White House. “The shortage, caused by delays in the vaccine manufacturing process, has put the president in exactly the situation he sought to avoid — one in which questions are being raised about the government’s response.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was welcomed to Pakistan by a car bomb explosion in Peshawar -- as well as word of the latest terror attacks in Afghanistan.
Just as Clinton was embarking on a trip to emphasize that the U.S. was not only focused on security and terror -- but also wanted a broader relationship with Pakistan -- the terror attacks brought home the brutal reality of Pakistan's dilemma: Under pressure from the U.S., the government has launched its long delayed attack against insurgents in tribal areas. But the extremists have responded with a spate of attacks, undermining the legitimacy of the government and angering Pakistanis frustrated by the lack of security.
Video:
A massive car bomb rocks a crowded market in Pakistan hours after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton arrives in the country.At a news conference today with Pakistan's foreign minister, Clinton said that she wanted to turn the page on the U.S. relationship with Pakistan and build on mutual respect and shared responsibilities. "While we may disagree from time to time as friends and partners do" Clinton said, she vowed to do more thru people to people diplomacy.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski
U.S. military officials tell NBC News that eight Americans and one Afghan civilian translator were killed in two separate "complex" IED attacks on U.S. military patrols in southern Afghanistan.
Seven Americans and the translator were killed when their patrol struck a roadside bomb, and then they were immediately attacked with RPGs and small arms fire by enemy forces.
One American was killed in a similar attack on a U.S. patrol in a separate area in the south part of the country.
The two incidents came "a couple of hours apart." The U.S. military is withholding the exact locations and the Americans service affiliation pending notification of next of kin.
From NBC’s Libby Leist
Back from his recent trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sen. John Kerry said today Gen. Stanley McChrystal's plan for surging tens of thousands of U.S. troops into Afghanistan "reaches too far, too fast." But, he also warned against any large pullout of American forces.
Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, Kerry, the chairman of Senate Foreign Relations committee, argued that more U.S. troops would not produce results if Afghan security forces are not effective and the governing and development capabilities of the Afghan government are lacking.
"The bottom line is that deploying additional troops won't result in sustainable gains if the Afghan security, civilian and governance capacity isn't there,” Kerry said. “And right now, as our generals will tell you, in many places, too many places, it isn't.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
In his interview today with NBC's Savannah Guthrie, President Obama suggested that the Afghanistan government's legitimacy and partnership with the U.S. will impact the administration's overall strategy for the country. He also said his administration will "take the time to get this right" when it comes to whether or not to send more troops to Afghanistan, but that it also will not "drag" out a decision.
When Guthrie asked whether the president could envision announcing a strategy before the Nov. 7 run-off in Afghanistan, Obama answered: "I think it is entirely possibly that we have a strategy formulated before a runoff is determined. We may not announce it."
Be sure to tune into Nightly News tonight for the rest of the interview.
OBAMA: I think we're still in-- finding out how this whole process in Afghanistan is gonna unfold. I thought that the steps that President Karzai took yesterday, agreeing to the certification of a second round was positive. What we've said is that it is important to make sure that we understand the landscape and the partner that we're gonna be dealing with.
Because our strategy in Afghanistan is not just dependent on military forces. It's also dependent on how well we're doing with our civilian development efforts, how well we're doing in stemming corruption. So this is part of a comprehensive strategy; it always has been. And our basic attitude is that we are going to take the time to get this right. We're not gonna drag it out, because there is a sense that the sooner we get a sound approach in place and personnel in place, the better off we're gonna be.
But we also want to make sure that we don't put resources ahead of strategy.
GUTHRIE: Could you envision, however, announcing a strategy before the runoff is determined?
OBAMA: I think it is entirely possibly that we have a strategy formulated before a runoff is determined. We may not announce it.
From NBC's Luke Russert
In his weekly off-camera pen-and-pad session on Capitol Hill, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer expressed anger and frustration with Republican attacks that President Obama’s lack of a clear, concise policy regarding the war in Afghanistan is putting American troops at risk, “My Republicans colleagues, of course, abandoned their focus on Afghanistan for seven years and let it drift and did not resource it properly and did not succeed.”
Hoyer continued, “For the Republicans who essentially diverted the attention from defeating terrorism, to Iraq on the incorrect assertion that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, frankly don’t move me mightily, as you can tell.”
When pressed again on whether or not troops in Afghanistan can be safest if the commander-in-chief hasn’t outlined a comprehensive understandable strategy, Hoyer again shifted blame to Republicans and what Democrats widely consider their past history of failure in Iraq. “Let me reiterate: We were under-resourced in Iraq for at least five and half years. McCain said so. I said so. Hagel said so. Where were they? They were in charge. Where were they? They under resourced very badly Iraq.”
CONTINUED >>
“Under heavy international pressure, President Hamid Karzai conceded Tuesday that he fell short of a first-round victory in the nation’s disputed presidential election, and agreed to hold a run-off election with his top challenger on Nov. 7,” the New York Times reports. “Flanked at a news conference in Kabul by Senator John Kerry, the head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Kai Eide, the top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai said he would accepting the findings of an international audit that stripped him of nearly a third of his votes in the first round, leaving him below the 50 percent threshold that would have allowed him to avoid a runoff and declare victory over his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah.”
The Washington Post: “Karzai's acceptance of another round of voting, after weeks of resistance, should enable the Obama administration to proceed with a high-level review of its faltering Afghanistan war strategy, a process that has been hamstrung by the delay in determining who its Afghan government partner will be. The White House has been under increasing congressional and public pressure to make a decision on whether to send tens of thousands of more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, as requested by the top American commander there.”
Before his fundraising day in New York City, President Obama meets with Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki at the White House.
"Vice President Joe Biden is traveling to Central Europe to reassure leaders who are nervous that the Obama administration's courting of Russia means a reduced commitment to their security. Biden's trip Tuesday comes in the aftermath of the administration's decision to rework a missile defense plan devised by the Bush administration and opposed by Russia. Leaders in Poland and the Czech Republic, where the system was to have been based, had hoped it would offer a permanent U.S. presence and deterrence against potential Russian bullying."
