News Nuggets 622

 Death Valley National Park.  From National Geographic.

 UP-FRONT 9/11 AUDIO NUGGET!!
'He Wanted Me To Live A Full Life' from NPR's Morning Edition
"Beverly Eckert received a call from her husband when he was in the World Trade Center's south tower."
A shattering and very inspiring segment from NPR's StoryCorps looking back on one woman's final call with her husband.

Cool Hand Barack (Maureen Dowd) from the New York Times
"No wonder the president’s top generals call him “a Cool Hand Luke.” ... If we could have seen everything unfolding in real time, it would have had the same dramatic effect as the intercutting in the president’s favorite movie, “The Godfather,” when Michael Corleone calmly acts as godfather at
his nephew’s baptism at church, even as his lieutenants carry out the gory hits he has ordered on rival mobsters. Just substitute “Leave the copter, take the corpse” for “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.”

Day 3: Breaking News about Osama bin Laden’s Death by The Daily Beast
"Never-before-seen stealth helicopters were exposed in Sunday’s raid on Osama bin Laden, shedding light on a secret program experts weren’t even sure existed. Plus, shocking new photos from the operation and more updates. "
Check out the video clip here concerning this new helicopter.  This explains a key dimension to the bin Laden operation that had been vexing me for several days; namely how could Obama and JSOC commanders give the green light to this operation without telling the Pakistanis?  They were going to fly a group of Blackhawk helicopters into a garrison town which had thousands of Pakistani troops literally five minutes away -- and do so without even the tacit approval of local military authorities?  This has been vexing -- because the risk of the operation going bad was ALREADY high, and with this added complication (if true), my first reaction was that this seemed little short of reckless.  And, it has to be said, Barack Obama is many things -- but reckless isn't one of them.  This new helicopter helps fill in the gap here. Another aspect that helps explain why the Pakistanis were left out of the loop is that there was a technologically induced blackout during the raid.

U.S. Agents Race to Exploit Data from Bin Laden Raid from the Los Angeles Times
"Intelligence agencies are scouring documents and computer files seized in the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad."

Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda May Rethink Ties Now That Osama Bin Laden Is Dead, Say Analysts from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, some analysts are speculating that al-Qaeda and its Afghan Taliban allies could go their separate ways, increasing the chances for a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan. ... The foundation of their relationship is believed to be rooted in bin Laden's long friendship with the Taliban's reclusive one-eyed leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, who might now find it more palatable to break with al-Qaida and negotiate a settlement to the war. Much may depend on the newly chastened power-broker next door: Pakistan."

Al Qaeda's Very Bad Year (Doyle McManus) from the Los Angeles Times
"More than the death of Osama bin Laden, the spread of democracy in the Arab world is depriving the terrorist movement of its reason for being."

Bin Laden Mission was Big Risk for Obama from MSNBC
"'When you go into something like this, there are no guarantees ... things go wrong,' former SEAL says."

Obama Ran Serious Risks With Mission To Kill Terrorist Leader (Lolita Baldor) from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"No guts, no glory. The nail-biting, 40-minute clandestine operation that resulted in Osama bin Laden's death could have been a calamitous political and military failure; a bloodbath in Pakistan that left U.S. forces and scores of civilians dead or captured by America's most ferocious enemy. Or, as it happened, it could unfold largely in textbook fashion – delivering a stunning success for the often maligned intelligence community, a political and national security coup for a struggling president and revenge for Americans still carrying vivid memories of Sept. 11."

How Osama Bin Laden's Death Healed the Democrats' Rift (Patricia Murphy) from the Daily Beast
"The big political payoff from Osama bin Laden’s killing won’t be just boosting President Obama’s stock, but bringing him and congressional Democrats—who’d been at each others’ throats—closer together, says Patricia Murphy."

Bin Laden Reading Guide: How to Cut Through the Coverage (Marian Wang and Braden Goyette) from ProPublica
"The death of Osama bin Laden has sent news organizations scrambling for details on how it happened, where it happened, and what it all means. We’ve rounded up some of the best coverage, being careful to note what’s been said, what’s already being disputed, and what still remains to be seen."

Neocons on the Defensive (Jonathan Bernstein) from the Washington Post
"Are we about to have an old-fashioned and very serious fight over foreign policy in the GOP"

Bush Feels Obama Ignoring Ex-president's Role in Osama Bin Laden Strike for 'Victory Lap' from the New York Daily News
"George W. Bush won't be at Ground Zero with President Obama Thursday in part because he feels his team is getting short shrift in the decade-long manhunt for Osama Bin Laden."
Translation: Obama isn't saying "Bush was RIGHT!"  Yesterday, I noted that Obama's invite of Bush to Ground Zero showed a bigness of spirit I've come to associate with Obama.  THIS item, in contrast, shows Bush's smallness -- or at least his inability to see the enormous flaws in his approach to the 'war on terror' and his (and his closest associates and partisans') on-going unwillingness to admit error.  Obama and his team have given ample credit to the intelligence agencies.  Moreover, what's actually happening today?  What is making up this 'victory lap'?  According to reports, all Obama is going to be doing is meeting with 9-11 victims and their families; no speeches, no blustering high fives, no flight jackets as he emerges from an F-16 fighter, and, God forbid, no big banners declaring 'Mission Accomplished'!  It seems that no matter WHAT OBAMA DOES, it will land for conservatives as grand-standing!  Sad. Bush should savor the moment right now -- because, speaking as a historian, I seriously doubt that history books will present a more favorable picture than the qualified triumphalism he's receiving from some quarters now. Finally, as many have already noted, Obama made the key determination to send live special ops troops to get the job done -- unlike Bush who held back US troops at Tora Bora and then gradually walked away from trying to get bin Laden at all.  

Doubtless, Bush and others are super-steamed by commentaries like the following two (both from long-time conservative pundits) from yesterday:
Obama's Finest Hour: Vengeance Stirs a Wounded Nation (Bret Stephens) from the Wall Street Journal via Investor Village
"There's been a whiff of sour grapes in some of the right-wing commentary about the president's speech. Too much emphasis on the first-person pronoun, not enough credit to President Bush, and so on. It's unbecoming. If ever there was a doubt about just how American Mr. Obama is, Sunday's raid eliminates it better than any long-form birth certificate. This was his finest hour. It's for the rest of us, avenged at long last, to rejoice."

Bin Laden's Last Challenge—to Republicans: Where are the GOP Candidates on Foreign Policy? (William McGurn) from the Wall Street Journal
"... in going after and getting bin Laden as forcefully as he did, Mr. Obama has just undermined one of the primary narratives against him—that of an indecisive president who worries more about the rights of our enemies than the freedom and safety of our citizens. If Mr. Obama ends up toppling Moammar Gadhafi too, he will look even stronger."

Obama, Osama and the Foreign Policy Stature Gap (Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake) from the Washington Post
"The potential Republican presidential field contains five former governors, one current governor, a former Speaker of the House, a former senator, two sitting members of Congress and two businessmen. And of that dozen, there is not a single candidate with a deep reservoir of foreign policy experience to match President Obama."

Bin Laden Peace Dividend for Middle East? (Martin S. Indyk) from the Brookings Institution
"In an interview with Bernard Gwertzman, consulting editor for CFR.org, Martin Indyk explains how the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden could mean enhanced leverage for the United States in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. According to Indyk, this development could increase President Obama's credibility in the Middle East, both in the Arab world and with the Israelis."

Escaping from Afghanistan's Mad-Max Present (Anne-Marie Slaughter) from Foreign Policy Magazine
What Osama bin Laden's death means for South Asia's future.

An interesting bin Laden note:
Osama's Will: Bin Laden Says his Children Must Not Join Al Qaeda from the International Herald Tribune [Pakistan edition in English]
"Media reports in The Guardian and Al-Anbaa, a Kuwaiti newspaper, have revealed that Al Qaeda’s chief Osama bin Laden‘s last wishes were that his wives do not re-marry and that his children do not join Al Qaeda."

For Obama, Big Rise in Poll Numbers After Bin Laden Raid from the New York Times
"Support for President Obama has risen sharply following the killing of Osama bin Laden by American military forces in Pakistan, with a majority now approving of his overall job performance, as well as his handling of foreign policy, the war in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."
I know these numbers won't last -- but it's good to see at least for now.

The Reaction to the Killing of Osama bin Laden Strikes Me as More Interesting than the Death of the Man who Plotted so Many Acts of International Terrorism (Stuart Rothenberg) from Roll Call
"Members of the national media treated the announcement of the demise of bin Laden, who has become a symbol of anti-Americanism and terror, as if it were a combination of V-J Day, the “Miracle on Ice” U.S. hockey team victory and the inauguration of President Barack Obama."

Second Thoughts About Obama and Bin Laden: It’s Not Just the Economy, Stupid (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"Historically, the correlation between a president's overall approval rating and his rating on foreign affairs is stronger than is the case with his rating on the economy. If you place the two variables into a regression equation, it finds that foreign affairs is the more important component, although both are clearly statistically significant."

For 2012, A Reversal of Obama’s Selling Points (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"The death of Osama bin Laden — and the success of President Obama’s roll-the-dice decision to deploy troops to get him — may change the landscape of American politics in one surprising particular. When Obama runs for reelection in 2012, he’ll probably be strong where his Democratic predecessors have been weak — and weak where they were strong."

Another version of the same idea:
Democrats Put on Combat Boots from The Hill
"Welcome to Bizarro Washington, where Republicans are trusted to lead on the economy and President Obama is the man with the big stick who killed Osama bin Laden."

Pak Army's Top Brass 'Rattled and Shaken' on Laden Issue from Indian Express [of India in English]
"The demand of inquiry, the daily said, appeared to be focused less on the circumstances of a terror mastermind hiding in an urban area and more on whether the military could defend Pakistan's border and its nuclear arsenal from being snatched or attacked by the US or India."

Signs Point to Pakistan Link from the Wall Street Journal
"U.S. and European intelligence officials increasingly believe active or retired Pakistani military or intelligence officials provided some measure of aid to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, allowing him to stay hidden in a large compound just a mile from an elite military academy."
No surprise here.  Prediction: this complicity goes all the way to the top in the Pakistani military.

Keeping Pakistan From Falling Apart (Stephen Cohen) from World Politics Review
A really good summary of the reasons why Obama and the brass will be torn about letting Pakistan fall apart.  For me, the biggest reason to stay engaged is the nuclear issue -- Pakistan is already a very problematic source of global nuclear weapons proliferation.  Note: Sometimes there is a subscription wall at this site.
"Pakistan's liberal intelligentsia is hostage to two undemocratic forces that have steadily risen to power. On the one hand, moderates face the wrath of conservative Islamists and their radical fringe supporters, who condemn the government for its permissive stance on the deadly U.S. drone strikes on the Afghan borderlands. ... On the other hand, Pakistani moderates remain constrained by the authoritarian impulses of the military, which has formally handed over power to President Asif Ali Zardari and his civilian administration but continues to effectively control the country's destiny, from its economy to its foreign policy."

Pakistan Plays Double Game When it Comes to Militants, Analysts Say from the Los Angeles Times
"Osama bin Laden's having been in Abbottabad aggravates a U.S. suspicion: that Pakistan paints itself as a reliable ally against militants even while helping some when it suits its interest."

No Carter Echo for Obama as Gas Cost May Ease for Campaign (David J. Lynch) from the Bloomberg News Service
"“I believe prices will stabilize and that $4 a gallon will be an outlier rather than an average during driving season,” Tom Kloza, chief analyst with the Oil Price Information Service, wrote in an e-mail. Prices will be kept in check by “demand destruction” as consumers curb unnecessary driving and as several U.S. refineries now shut for maintenance are started up, Kloza said."

The End of the Inbox Presidency? (Matt Miller) from the Washington Post
"Post-Osama, the fascinating question is this: What does President Obama want to do with this opportunity? Obama’s impressive command of the operation that killed Osama bin Laden has given the president a rare chance to move beyond the inbox nature of his presidency. Though it’s often forgotten by both critics and supporters, the president’s entire tenure has been defined by the mess he inherited. This wasn’t what Obama expected; until September 2008, the candidate of hope and change assumed he would have a more open canvas on which to paint. All that vanished with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the financial crisis."

Budget Talks: Republicans Offer to Seek Common Ground with Democrats from the Washington Post
"On the eve of debt-reduction talks led by Vice President Biden, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) said Republicans remain convinced that reining in federal retirement programs is the key to stabilizing the nation’s finances over the long term. But he said Republicans recognize they may need to look elsewhere to achieve consensus after President Obama “excoriated us” for a proposal to privatize Medicare."

A Near-empty Debate Stage and an Unsettled Presidential Field for Republicans (Karen Tumulty) from the Washington Post
"Normally, the first debate of the presidential primary season serves as a starting gun. The one that will take place on Thursday night could sound more like a distress call."

After My Son Died, I Met his Daughter (Alan Kaufman) from Salon
"After David's drug overdose, my wife and I struggled to keep hope. Then we got a call from the child he never knew."

Donald Trump and the 2012 'Campaign of Lunacy' (Marc Pitzke) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"In the gestating Republican primary campaign, the real estate shark has quickly taken the lead - as a political clown and caricature of himself. But what’s not so funny is this: Trump is setting the tone. The fact that an airhead like Trump is able to determine the content of news reports says a lot about the political state of America."

Thirty Percent of GOP Still believe Obama Not Born in U.S. from Raw Story
"Many so-called "birthers" believe there is persuasive evidence that Obama was born in Kenya in 1961 and that his birth certificate was faked in order to make him eligible for the Presidency. The conspiracy was first conceived during the 2008 campaign."

On a related note from yesterday, I've given Christopher Caldwell's excellent observations on the Trump enthusiasm a second look -- and several things occur to me.  First, that I suspect that there is a convergence between birtherism and the longer term, largely right-wing critique of so-called 'political correctness'.  For years, I have wondered about the vehemence of these latter critiques; folks like Andrew Breitbart go red-faced with rage when the believe P-C is somehow putting a damper on their or someone else's conversation. What I see now (based on Caldwell's column) is the underlying sentiment that, for these critics, the fear of being politically 'incorrect' is what stops 'average Americans' from coming out and voicing their clear support for the right-wing agenda (particularly in immigration, education, multiculturalism, the president, what have you).  Indeed, Breitbart has said in the past that he viewed political correctness as "one of the biggest threats America faces today." In other words, P-C lives as another type of conspiracy designed to keep 'average people' from expressing their true feelings.  In regards to Trump (and Caldwell touches on this), what birthers seem to REALLY love about him is his complete indifference to 'political correctness.'  He projects a type of 'authenticity' they see as completely lacking, especially from the GOP establishment.  For these people, they look to the MSM and most lawmakers and, for many, they believe firmly that these people KNOW that the birthers are right (as are the other most severe critics of Obama) but WON'T tell the truth!

HOLLYWOOD OBITUARY NUGGET!!
Jackie Cooper, Film and Television Actor, Dies at 88 from the New York Times
"Jackie Cooper, the pug-nosed kid who became America’s Boy in tear-jerker films of the Great Depression, then survived Hollywood’s notorious graveyard of child stardom and flourished as an adult in television and modern pictures, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles."
I came to know Jackie Cooper from his Our Gang re-runs from the 1970s and his portrayal of Perry White, the publisher of the Daily Planet in the Superman films.  He was great!