Tales from the Trail

Pelosi tells Harvard students she read every page of healthcare bill

Ros Krasny

Nov 13, 2009 20:39 EST

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told students at Harvard University on Friday that she had indeed done her reading.

Taking questions during the 90-minute event, Pelosi assured one skeptical undergraduate that she, and many other House members, had read “every page” of the roughly 1,900-page healthcare bill passed by the House. 

She expounded on leadership qualities, healthcare reform, the impact of more women in Congress, troops to Afghanistan — oh, and healthcare reform.

Participating in the healthcare debate, so long a signature issue of the late Massachusetts political titan Ted Kennedy, was “humbling,” she said.

Pelosi said she would have had a hard time cobbling together enough votes for a healthcare bill without a public option to balance the influence of insurance companies.

And she sympathized with women’s groups fearful of the Stupak-Pitts anti-abortion amendment contained in the House bill.

But of all the heavy legislative lifting in Congress this year, passing supplemental funding for the war in Afghanistan was the hardest, Pelosi said.

Is Afghan war one of necessity for U.S.?

Sue Pleming

Oct 29, 2009 16:56 EDT

Disengaging from Afghanistan is the option President Barack Obama is the least likely to adopt as he closes in on a new strategy in the eight-year war he calls one of “necessity.”

But on Thursday, at one of the countless policy conferences in Washington to discuss the president’s choices, some experts suggested withdrawal was the best route — and they said it would not necessarily impact efforts to fight al Qaeda.

Harvard University’s Stephen Walt called the argument for disengagement “fairly compelling,” while conceding it was not the most popular.

His tally of the costs: $225 billion since the Sept. 11 attacks, with more than 850 U.S. soldiers killed and thousands wounded.

“The costs are going to be large at a time when the American economy is not exactly robust,” he told the Capitol Hill conference organized by the Rand Corporation.

Even if  the United States “won,” al Qaeda would still have a safe haven in neighboring Pakistan as well as in Yemen, Somalia or other nations where they like to hang out, Walt said. If U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan, “it is not obvious that it  will significantly enhance al Qaeda’s ability to go after us.”

The CATO Institute’s Christopher Preble was also in the “big skeptic” column when it comes to sending in more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. He said the big question Obama needs to ask is whether the mission in Afghanistan is essential for U.S. national security — which most experts argue it is.

The First Draft: Kerry reports in after Kabul visit

Senator John Kerry, who once aspired to host meetings in the Oval Office, will be visiting President Barack Obama in that room Wednesday to talk about his recent trip to Afghanistan.

Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was credited with playing a key role in convincing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to agree to a second round of voting in a disputed national election.

A picture of him whispering into Karzai’s ear on Tuesday was splashed across the major U.S. newspapers on Wednesday and news programs gave detailed reports on Kerry’s behind-the-scenes shuttle diplomacy.

ABC news said over the last five days in Afghanistan, Kerry acted more like a secretary of state than a senator as he played a central role in brokering the agreement with Karzai and his main rival Abdullah Abdullah.

In Kabul on Tuesday after hours of talks with Karzai, Kerry said the Nov. 7 run-off would be difficult and made a point to praise the Afghan leader for endorsing the vote.

Now Kerry has a chance to give advice and his impressions to Obama, who has been meeting with his war council to make a decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Obama administration officials have stressed that a credible and legitimate government in Kabul is essential for Washington to be able to succeed in Afghanistan.

A new Washington Post-ABC News public opinion poll showed that Americans are evenly and deeply divided over whether Obama should send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, as requested by his top military commander there.

Civil air surrounds Afghan war strategy debate at White House

David Alexander

Oct 7, 2009 19:18 EDT

To hear spokesman Robert Gibbs describe it, President Barack Obama’s White House is a mighty civil place to work.

Even when formulating Afghan war strategy, for instance, the president, his generals and his advisers do not argue. Or apparently even forcefully state their views.

This despite their known differences in position, with Afghan war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal seeking up to 40,000 more troops and Vice President Joe Biden wanting to maintain current troop levels while intensifying attacks on al Qaeda.

The president held one of a series of war strategy sessions Wednesday at the White House.

Asked beforehand whether the different advisers were likely to argue their specific points of view, spokesman Robert Gibbs expressed surprise at the suggestion.

“You know, this may not be good TV, but there really weren’t any arguments in the last three-hour meeting,” he told a briefing. “There was a larger discussion of where we are and what we need to do going forward. So I — I can’t predict who’s going to yell at who…”