Leader: McKiernan's Ouster
- Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced yesterday that General David McKiernan, the top American commander in Afghanistan, would be forced out, and replaced with Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, who was recently in charge of all special operations in Iraq. The move is widely believed to indicate a shift toward the counter-insurgency tactics that have succeeded in Iraq, and away from the conventional military approach in which McKiernan was schooled.
- This move will "probably" end McKiernan's career in the military, said Gates in the press conference yesterday. Most reactions to the shift have been positive, as Spencer Ackerman found in his talks with military commanders who served under McChrystal in Iraq. Fred Kaplan at Slate notes that Afghanistan is now, unequivocally, "Obama's War," and argues that this shift could make or break his presidency.
- Earlier today, a group of Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked government buildings in eastern Afghanistan, killing six and taking an unknown number of hostages. This is just one in a series of brazen attacks by Taliban militants; let's hope General McChrystal can begin to bring about some security in this country.
Politics
- President Obama brought together leaders from the health care industry and interested groups yesterday, as they committed to $2 trilion in cost reductions over the next ten years. The NY Times skeptically notes that their commitments may not yield the projected savings.
- A soon-to-be-released report written by the CIA's Inspector General in 2004 will show that waterboarding was both ineffective at gaining actionable intelligence and used more frequently and intensely than had been deemed medically safe. So much for you, Dick Cheney.
- Florida Governor Charlie Crist will announce his bid for Senate today, a small piece of good news for the GOP in what has been a dark period.
Economy
- In April, Chinese exports fell 22.6% from their level a year earlier. This number is a fair bit larger than anybody expected, and is yet more evidence that this global recession is far from over. Andy Kessler wrote on the WSJ's op-ed page today that the recent rise in stock market was nothing more than a "sucker's rally." Arianna Huffington agrees.
- The White House Office of Management and Budget has revised projections for the 2009 fiscal deficit up to $1.84 trillion, or 12.9% of the economy-- the largest since 1945.
- Ford Motor Co. will offer 300 million shares of stock to help raise capital, which it will use largely to fund its retiree health care trust.
- Bank of America sold off a big chunk of China Construction Bank, and raised $7.3 billion in the process. This gets them about 1/5th of the way toward the $34 billion the government has asked them to raise.
International
- Journalist Roxana Saberi, accused of espionage by the Iranian government, was released from Evin prison in Tehran yesterday, after four months of imprisonment. An appeals court threw out her eight-year sentence, demonstrating the deep divides within the Iranian government.
- I'd like to pause for a moment to be amazed, and sort of impressed by Silvio Berlusconi. The guy is unbelievable.
New From NDN
- NDN got big play in a SF Chronicle piece by Carla Marinucci today, in which she talks about Meagan McCain, Millennials, and the future of the Republican Party. NDN Fellows Morley Winograd and Mike Hais are quoted, and our event to be held in San Fran tonight gets its own sidebar. Are you coming to our event tonight? Have you considered flying to San Fran to come to our event tonight? Please consider RSVPing before you do.
- NDN got a nice shout-out from our pal Sergio Bendixen-- one of the most important men in politics you haven't heard of-- in an interview with Real Clear Politics.
One More Thing
- Last, Rachel Maddow interviews an Arabic linguist who was booted from the military for being gay. Worth watching: