NEWS
By Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller and Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller,Tribune Washington Bureau | February 18, 2009
WASHINGTON -President Barack Obama ordered his first major deployment of U.S. combat troops yesterday, sending 17,000 more soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan for what he described as an urgent bid to stabilize a deteriorating and neglected country. The deployment marks a sizable intensification of the war effort and a new commitment of U.S. resources to the Afghanistan campaign. In a statement announcing the troop increase, Obama directed veiled criticism at the Bush administration, noting that the request for the troops from Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, had been pending for months.
NEWS
By New York Times News Service | November 10, 2008
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has used broad secret authority since 2004 to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against al-Qaida and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior U.S. officials. These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in spring 2004 at the direction of President Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack al-Qaida anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.
NEWS
By New York Times News Service | October 21, 2008
WASHINGTON - Despite his stated desire to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, President Bush has decided not to do so and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere, according to senior administration officials. Bush's top advisers held a series of meetings at the White House this summer after a Supreme Court ruling in June cast doubt on the future of the detention center.
NEWS
By New York Times News Service | December 16, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Deeply concerned about the prospect of failure in Afghanistan, the Bush administration and NATO have begun three top-to-bottom reviews of the entire mission, from security and counterterrorism to political consolidation and economic development, according to U.S. and alliance officials. The reviews are an acknowledgment of the need for greater coordination in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida, halting the rising opium production and trafficking that finance the insurgency, and helping the Kabul government extend its legitimacy and control.
NEWS
By Peter Spiegel and Peter Spiegel,Los Angeles Times | June 22, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The White House postponed a meeting of the administration's top senior foreign and defense policy officials scheduled for today to debate the future of the terrorism detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but officials said the issue of whether to close the facility is likely to be discussed again. The Associated Press had reported earlier that the administration is nearing a decision to close the facility and move its terror suspects to military prisons elsewhere. Senior administration officials said yesterday that a consensus is building for a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where they could face trial.
NEWS
By Joel Havemann and Maura Reynolds and Joel Havemann and Maura Reynolds,Los Angeles Times | May 30, 2007
WASHINGTON -- President Bush has chosen Robert B. Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative and deputy secretary of state, to replace Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank, a senior administration official said yesterday. Wolfowitz announced his resignation this month after a bank investigating committee found that he had violated bank policies by involving himself in personnel decisions concerning a staff member with whom he was romantically involved. He said then that he would leave by the end of June.