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On the Radar: New CIA chief, alleged hate crime, UK hacking
Three things you need to know today.
Petraeus at CIA: Retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, who served as the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, assumes his new role Tuesday: director of the CIA.
Petraeus succeeds Leon Panetta, who is now the U.S. secretary of defense.
At a ceremony marking his retirement from the military last week, Petraeus said his journey with the military was not coming to an end, even though he and his wife were "about to begin an exciting new journey with another extraordinary organization."
President Barack Obama has cited Petraeus' experience in working with the CIA on counterinsurgency efforts in the field as a reason for his nomination as the agency's director.
Alleged hate crime: The family of James Craig Anderson, a man who was beaten and then run over in a Jackson, Mississippi, motel parking lot, will hold a news conference Tuesday morning.
The family's announcement will come the same day that a pre-trial hearing is scheduled for one of the teens accused in Anderson's death.
Prosecutors have said the killing of Anderson, who was a black man, was racially motivated.
The killing - which sparked national attention after CNN obtained and aired exclusive surveillance video that shows the attack as it took place - is also being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.
Anderson, 49, was first beaten by the group of teens as he stood in a motel parking lot early on the morning of June 26, according to some of the teens who were interviewed by police.
After the beating, a group of teens drove a large Ford pickup truck over Anderson, according to witnesses and officials. Anderson died from his injuries later the same day.
UK phone hacking: British lawmakers will grill former newspaper executives Tuesday as they try to determine whether top News Corp. executive James Murdoch misled them about the scale of illegal eavesdropping at News of the World.
Murdoch, the son of News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, has repeatedly told lawmakers that an investigation showed no evidence of widespread phone hacking at News of the World.
But the former editor of the paper has disputed James Murdoch's account, and will testify before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Colin Myler will be joined by Tom Crone, a former top lawyer for the paper.
Former top human resources officer Daniel Cloke and ex-legal affairs director Jonathan Chapman are also due to testify.
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Not if their wings are clipped.
"another extraordinary organization" that does "extraordinary" things
Congrats, General.
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/head-sh0t/
i guess i ll go back to my sticky bed.
You do that, fake gung hoe.
When we laid the plan out to Karzai, we also laid out the terms of negotiations to the Talib. Now in 2009 they did not want to talk but come 2011 they are more willing. We have brought the amount of pressure on them, anymore than that and we are putting tinder on a brushfire (fueling the insurgency).
Now that pressure can be kept on until 2014 and beyond 2014 by the ANSF. We told people that the targeted killings were hitting civilians and not Talib, that fuels the insurgency that is tinder, when we draw down it is the Afghan Government that holds the blood debt, we act in their name as guests, every innocent we knock they will have to deal with the relatives after we decamp and there will be blood.
It was not Petraeus fault he was under pressure and under resourced, with force structure and time, which is McChrystal blew a gasket. Gradually the initial plan was watered down by the WH, so hence you start to get adverse assessments coming out of the CIA.
I would not call it a stalemate however, because you will not defeat them militarily, pressure to bear to bring about a political settlement. So given time and that pressure that can be maintained a political settlement will be found.
But the CIA start putting out alternate plans, as the mission became under resources and time constraints, late 2010 early 2011. I mean it is not 100% and there are a lot of variables now, that were not in the original plans. I mean they can sandbag it, if need be.
But under Bush/Cheney we were there until 2013, now it is 2014 and long term presence of around 25,000, it is risky and Obama takes risks, now you need to take risks but every now and then it will blow up in your face. That is fine with a hit in Dubai but we are talking about a war and a country here.
It is preferable to get a political settlement while in country and with a strong force structure, that is an outcome we cannot say will happen. But if we had been able to saturate the place through 2013 with 500,000 I will get you a political settlement.
That is why the surge worked in Iraq and Obama's has not we simply did not have the force structure of indigenous forces in place in Afghanistan. Which is why even though Afghanistan was put in a holding pattern in 2005 and the Iraq surge was thought of in 2005 it did not take place until 2007 and the war is won in a short period of time.
It is logical that transition would work far more effectively if the insurgency had been saturated with 500,000 troops through 12 months, than handing over while the insurgency is still at its height, it would work a hell of a lot easier with a political settlement in place.
But it is Obama's war and he can do what he wants with it, if he wants to issue a hospital pass to the CIA on Afghanistan then that is what he will do.
What happened to James Craig Anderson proves beyond any reasonable doubt that racism is very much alive and well in this country despite all the boasting the right-wing news media does to the contrary. And that's the it will stay! Hate dies hard!!!
This wasn't a KKK inspired Lynch mob. These were some drunk ass teens who's emotions and adolescent genes got a little mixed up. Yes I definitely see long term prison for that pick up driver.Making it a hate crime makes it a vendetta on society's part. And rampant racism etc. yada yada yada in the US didn't cause this murder.
Did travis say he was as stupid as a rock?
hmm interesting , racism has been alive for a long time. its pretty easy to spot someone who is racist. i guess you can say this story can be said on both sides.