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Monday, December 6, 2010

Indonesia's Billion-Dollar Climate Experiment


Can rich nations pay a corruption-riddled government to protect its rainforests?

Lieberman wants Senate to stay in session until it repeals 'Don't ask' policy


By Michael O'Brien 12/06/10 10:55 AM ET
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) wants the Senate to stay in session until it's passed legislation to do away with the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Lieberman, a key Senate proponent of repealing the military's ban on openly gay or lesbian members, doesn't want the chamber to adjourn until it's acted on a defense authorization bill that contains a provision to do away with the policy.

“Sen. Lieberman believes that there are at least 60 votes to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year, provided that leadership allows time for sufficient debate and amendments," Lieberman spokeswoman Erika Masonhall said. "Wanting to go home is not an acceptable excuse for failing to pass a bill that provides essential support for our troops and veterans and failing to take action that the president, the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have called for.”

The senator also appeared to endorse Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart's demand that the Senate stay in session in a tweet on Monday.

Democrats appear to have the 60 votes necessary to overcome any GOP-led filibuster of the defense bill, because some Republicans — like Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Scott Brown (Mass.) — have said they support the repeal.

But all 42 GOP senators have vowed to block any legislation from moving forward until the Senate passes an extension of expiring Bush-era tax cuts for all income brackets. Even the Republicans who favor repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" have made clear they won't allow the defense bill to move forward until tax cuts are addressed.

That puts Democrats up against a tight legislative calendar. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Saturday that he hopes to finish work by Dec. 17 and avoid working up until the Christmas holiday, as the Senate had done last year.

But Democrats face a busy schedule in which they hope to handle other controversial pieces of legislation, such as the DREAM Act. Republicans have meanwhile demanded weeks to debate the defense bill, a timeline that would seem to kick the legislation — and with it, the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" — until next year.

At that point, new senators will have been sworn in, giving the GOP control of 47 seats and making passing a defense bill including a repeal of the policy difficult, if not impossible.

Senate sees crowded sprint


Senate maneuvering by Democrats and Republicans is slowly clearing the stage for the main show: bipartisan deals on the expiring 2001 and 2003 tax rates, providing for fiscal 2011 funding for the government and perhaps more.
The Senate faces a herculean effort to resolve those and other top issues that have deadlocked for months, including ratifying an arms control treaty with Russia and renewing Pentagon programs.
Majority Leader Harry Reid is aiming to wrap up work for the year in the next two weeks. To get there, he laid out a dress rehearsal that opens with a judicial impeachment trial on Dec. 7 and four test votes on other Democratic priorities the next day.
The effort to bring up those four bills are not expected to succeed — similar to two weekend procedural votes on Democratic prescriptions (HR 4853) for extending the tax rates.
[This story is from CQ Today. Request a free trial.]
By week’s end, Reid said, the Senate hopes to hear from White House and congressional negotiators seeking a compromise on tax rates and federal spending, making way for votes on the two biggest issues standing between the Senate and the exit doors.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for his part, also indicated that behind-the-scenes negotiations on the tax rates could yield a deal soon, and allow work to proceed on other legislative fronts. Until then, he reiterated that Republicans will likely hold up action on all other matters.
“We all know where we were last Christmas Eve; we don’t want to be the same place this Christmas Eve,” Reid, D-Nev., said Dec. 4. Last year, the Senate convened on a snowy Dec. 24 to pass its version of a health care overhaul.
The scheduled cloture votes on Dec. 8 will come on a move to take up a House-passed measure (HR 847) that would establish a medical program and reopen a compensation fund for individuals exposed to harmful debris from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Dec. 4 she is working with about a dozen Republicans to round up the votes needed. “There’s three or four who really are considering this strongly and very honestly, so I think we will be successful,” she said in discussing whether she can round up the 60 votes needed to limit debate on the measures.
Another cloture vote is slated on a bill (S 3991) to extend bargaining rights to police and firefighters in states that do not allow such public safety workers to join unions.
Democrats also will seek to break a logjam on an immigration bill (S 3992), commonly known as the DREAM Act, that would give some children of illegal immigrants a path to conditional legal status.
A procedural vote also is lined up for a bill (S 3985) that would provide one-time payment of $250 to Social Security recipients who have not received cost-of-living payments because inflation has not been high enough to trigger such adjustments.
Reid said that Monday, he will file for cloture to proceed to each of the four measures.
McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated Dec. 4 that all 42 Republicans signed a letter vowing not to vote to bring up other matters until Congress deals with the expiring tax provisions and funding for the government for fiscal 2011. “I’m optimistic we’ll stay on the things we ought to be doing, which was the point of the letter that we put out,” he said.
Before the procedural votes, the Senate will hold impeachment proceedings against G. Thomas Porteous Jr., a U.S. district judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The House voted in March to impeach Porteous on charges of accepting gifts in exchange for official actions, falsifying and withholding information during a bankruptcy proceeding, making false statements as part of his Senate confirmation and receiving money from lawyers involved in a case he oversaw.
The Senate probably will deliberate in closed session after hearing closing arguments in the case and vote on whether to convict Porteous on each of the four articles of impeachment brought against him. A two-thirds vote is needed to convict, and a conviction on any of the four articles will remove the judge from office.
Reid said the impeachment proceeding could conclude Dec. 8, prior to the cloture votes on his four legislative priorities.
Concern Over New START
Republicans were quick to question the chamber’s ability to plow through Reid’s ambitious plans. Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said it threatens chances that the arms control treaty with Russia (Treaty Doc 111-5), known as New START, could be ratified in the lame-duck session.
“You show me how there’s time to do START,” Kyl said early Dec. 4 as debate over expiring tax provisions played out on the Senate floor.
Nonetheless, Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a key Republican negotiator on the treaty, said significant progress has been made on the outstanding policy differences between Democrats and Republicans involved in negotiations over ratifying the treaty.
“There’s lots of things that have been discussed in a very agreeable way, but getting the T’s crossed and I’s dotted is the next step, and we made some progress on that today,” Corker said Dec. 4 after a meeting in Kyl’s office that included Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. “Things continue to move along in a very constructive way. We’ve had some very fruitful discussions, and now what has to happen is making those discussions be real by documenting.”
But Corker cautioned that the crowded agenda could imperil ratification in the lame-duck session because Republicans want time for extensive floor consideration of the treaty.
“It’s an interesting calendar,” Corker said. “The worst possible scenario for bringing START up would be to do it in a way that’s rushed and crammed.”
Reid said still hopes “there’s time to do the START treaty” before the 111th Congress comes to a close.
And on dealing with taxes, McConnell said negotiations with the White House point to possible progress on other issues in the new Congress set to be sworn in Jan. 5. “It’s a healthy sign,” he said. “There’s probably been more conversations between the White House and Senate and House Republicans in the last two weeks than in the last two years.”
Last year, the Senate was, of course, in session and voting on both the health care overhaul (PL 111-148PL 111-152) and an increase in the debt limit (PL 111-123) on Dec. 24. This year, Reid said he hopes the Senate can conclude its business by Dec. 17.
Lauren Gardner contributed to this story.
-- Brian Friel and Niels Lesniewski, CQ Staff
Harry Reid

After censure, Rangel faces new ethics probe

By Jordan Fabian 12/06/10 09:52 AM ET

Censured Rep. Charles Rangel is not in the clear yet when it comes to his ethics problems: he faces a Federal Election Commission (FEC) probe into alleged misuse of campaign funds for his legal defense.
The FEC, according to the New York Post, has taken up a complaint filed by the right-leaning National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) that Rangel (D-N.Y.) used funds from his National Leadership PAC to pay for legal counsel for the House ethics case that ended in his censure last week.

To avoid paying legal services out of their own pockets, lawmakers are only permitted to use money from their individual campaign accounts or legal defense funds.
The 20-term lawmaker, who was once the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, on Sunday called his censure "embarrassing" and "painful" in his first television interview since he was dealt the punishment.
Rangel's trial went ahead last month without the congressman having legal representation. His attorneys at the firm Zuckerman Spaeder dropped him as a client in October, and he later told the ethics committee he could no longer afford their services after sinking $2 million into his defense.
NLPC's complaint, filed late last month, accuses Rangel of violating ethics rules by allowing his PAC to pay Zuckerman Spaeder $293,000 in 2010 and $100,000 to the law firm Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe in Jan. 2009.
A spokeswoman for Rangel noted that the attorney for his National Leadership PAC "has authorized the use of its funds for its legal expenses." The spokeswoman also said the NLPC is "not an unbiased organization" and accused it of making "inaccurate allegations."
"As you know, a complaint can be filed by any entity and it should not be taken as the gospel," Rangel press secretary Hannah Kim said.
Rangel was sanctioned for committing 11 violations of House ethics rules for improperly using his office to solicit donations for an educational center in his name, as well as filing incorrect financial disclosures and tax forms that failed to list income earned on his Dominican villa. The 80-year-old was also ordered to pay back taxes to the government.


The Video John Boehner Doesn't Want You to See

Watch the artsy film the GOP leadership is using to rally evangelicals and revive the culture wars of the '80s.

We're Still at War:

Photo of the Day for December 6, 2010

Mon Dec. 6, 2010 2:30 AM PST
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. George Kane briefs local Afghan national police officers before departing on Operation Gazme Shab 3, Nov. 18, 2010. The purpose for the operation is to assess local activity in the evening hours and gather intel for future operations. Photo by Cpl. Kevin Martin

10 Reasons We Need The DREAM Act

Posted by Stephanie Valencia on December 03, 2010 at 03:25 PM EST

In the coming days, Congress will vote on the DREAM Act – a common-sense piece of legislation drafted by both Republicans and Democrats that will give young people who grew up in the United States a chance to contribute to our nation by pursuing a higher education or serving in the U.S. armed forces. It’s limited, targeted legislation that will allow only the best and brightest to earn their legal status, and applies to those brought to the United States as minors through no fault of their own by their parents, and who know no other home.
Here are 10 reasons we need the DREAM Act:
  1. Like Ginkgo Biloba, It’ll Make Us Smarter: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has stated that passing the DREAM Act will “play an important part in the nation’s efforts to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020,” something vital for America to remain competitive in today’s global economy.
  2. For Ivan Rosales: With the DREAM Act, young people like Ivan Rosales, who came to the United States when he was a year old, can become doctors and work towards a cure for cancer. Ivan’s brother, a National Guardsman, and his brother-in-law, an Iraq veteran, inspired his dream to serve as a doctor in the military, before going on to work as a cancer researcher. Without the DREAM Act, Ivan and others like him have no way to even stay in the country, much less serve it.
  3. Uncle Sam Says, The DREAM Act supports our troops: Secretary of Defense Gates has written to DREAM Act sponsors citing the rich precedent of non-citizens serving in the U.S. military and stating that “the DREAM Act represents an opportunity to expand [the recruiting] pool, to the advantage of military recruiting and readiness.
  4. For Gaby Pacheco: So Gaby Pacheco, who was the highest ranked J-ROTC student in her high school and president of her college student government, can serve in the Air Force and eventually live out her dream of working with special needs children.
  5. It Helps Separate The Bad Guys From The Good Guys: Secretary Napolitano believes this targeted legislation provides a firm but fair way to deal with innocent children brought to the U.S. at a young age so that the Department of Homeland Security can dedicate their enforcement resources to detaining and deporting criminals and those who pose a threat to our country.
  6. For David Cho: So David Cho, who graduated from high school with a 3.9 GPA, plays seven instruments and is the drum major at UCLA, can live his dream of serving the United States in the Air Force.
  7. It’s Bipartisan: The DREAM Act is a bipartisan piece of legislation designed to stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents by giving them the chance to obtain legal status by pursuing a higher education, or by serving in the U.S. armed forces for the country they've grown up in and love as their own.
  8. For Cesar Vargas: So Cesar Vargas, a proud Brooklyn kid, can live his dream  to serve in the military as a JAG officer or on the front line as an intelligence officer with the Marines. He wants to “earn [his] place next to the great heroes of our nation that have and are fighting to defend our Constitution."
  9. It Will Help Our Economy: According to a recent UCLA study, students that would be impacted by the DREAM Act could add between $1.4 to $3.6 trillion in taxable income to our economy over the course of careers, depending on how many ultimately gain legal status. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the DREAM Act in its current form will cut the deficit by $1.4 billion and increase government revenues by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years.
  10. It’s The Right Thing To Do: It’s just plain common sense and it’s the right thing to do. For more information on the DREAM Act, view the fact sheet.
Stephanie Valencia is an Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement

Franken, Klobuchar vote for middle-class tax cuts, yet bill dies in Senate

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GOP shoots down two versions: extending tax cuts for those making under $250,000 and under $1 million per year

By Andy Birkey | 12.06.10 | 8:30 am





The U.S. Senate rejected two bills aimed at extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class on Saturday after Republicans filibustered and Democrats couldn’t get the votes to break it. Minnesota Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar were among those voting to end the filibuster and allow a vote on the tax cuts. An extension of the middle class tax cuts now appears dead in Congress.
The Senate considered two bills: one that would extend the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 and another that would extend those cuts for people making less than $1 million, which was intended to be a compromise with Republicans. The GOP, however, was able to defeat both bill through the use of filibusters.
Franken and Klobuchar both voted to stop debate and vote on the bills.
Franken took to the Senate floor and chastised Republicans for rejecting an unemployment benefits extension because it adds to the deficit but pushing for tax cuts for the wealthy without regard for the deficit.
“Now, frankly, I’m a little tired of being lectured by Republicans on the deficit,” he said. “We all know that Bill Clinton inherited the largest deficit in history from George H. W. Bush and then handed George W. Bush the largest surplus in history. And George W. Bush nearly doubled the national debt. He also handed Barack Obama the largest deficit in history. And, of course, my friends on the other side of the aisle controlled the Congress for most of those Bush years.”
He continued, “So Republicans say that these unemployment benefits are too expensive and will add to the deficit. They demand that these unemployment benefits must be paid for. Tax cuts for the richest people in America? No need to pay for those. Adding $700 billion to the deficit-or actually $830 billion when you factor in extra interest payments? No problem.
Here are Franken’s full remarks:

SEN. SANDERS GOES OFF ON BERNANKE_ 03/03/09



Great Exchange! Senator Bernie Sanders can't contain himself during today's (03/03/09) Senate Budget Commitee hearing in Washington. Bad Boy Bernie demands to know who got the 2.2 trillion of dollars in loans from the Fed. Bernanke won't tell him. He's also angry that banks that get tax payer funds for nothing, are charging credit card customers 25% interest. Also discusses A.I.G. and who got those credit Defautl swaps. He also demands to know why Bernanke didn't raise the alarm when the Bush Administration was claiming the economy was sound when it obviously wasn't.

Senator Menendez Advocates for Permanent Middle Class Tax Cuts



Senator Robert Menendez speaks on the floor of the United States Senate advocating for a permanent extension of tax cuts for all middle class Americans.

Lieberman wants Senate to stay in session until it repeals 'Don't ask' policy


By Michael O'Brien 12/06/10 10:55 AM ET
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) wants the Senate to stay in session until it's passed legislation to do away with the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Lieberman, a key Senate proponent of repealing the military's ban on openly gay or lesbian members, doesn't want the chamber to adjourn until it's acted on a defense authorization bill that contains a provision to do away with the policy.

“Sen. Lieberman believes that there are at least 60 votes to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year, provided that leadership allows time for sufficient debate and amendments," Lieberman spokeswoman Erika Masonhall said. "Wanting to go home is not an acceptable excuse for failing to pass a bill that provides essential support for our troops and veterans and failing to take action that the president, the secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have called for.”

The senator also appeared to endorse Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart's demand that the Senate stay in session in a tweet on Monday.

Democrats appear to have the 60 votes necessary to overcome any GOP-led filibuster of the defense bill, because some Republicans — like Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Scott Brown (Mass.) — have said they support the repeal.

But all 42 GOP senators have vowed to block any legislation from moving forward until the Senate passes an extension of expiring Bush-era tax cuts for all income brackets. Even the Republicans who favor repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" have made clear they won't allow the defense bill to move forward until tax cuts are addressed.

That puts Democrats up against a tight legislative calendar. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Saturday that he hopes to finish work by Dec. 17 and avoid working up until the Christmas holiday, as the Senate had done last year.

But Democrats face a busy schedule in which they hope to handle other controversial pieces of legislation, such as the DREAM Act. Republicans have meanwhile demanded weeks to debate the defense bill, a timeline that would seem to kick the legislation — and with it, the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" — until next year.

At that point, new senators will have been sworn in, giving the GOP control of 47 seats and making passing a defense bill including a repeal of the policy difficult, if not impossible.



Supreme Court will hear appeal from Wal-Mart in discrimination case


By Michael O'Brien 12/06/10 01:03 PM ET
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal by Wal-Mart in a class action employment discrimination lawsuit against the retailer.

The court will weigh legal arguments surrounding a suit brought by six women arguing that the company, one of the biggest in the U.S., had promoted and offered better compensation to male employees.

The justices will specifically examine whether or not individuals alleging discrimination can combine their cases into a class action lawsuit. Wal-Mart contends that such cases make it difficult and costly for large organizations to defend. A federal appeals court held in a 6-5 decision earlier this year that the class action suit against Wal-Mart could proceed, prompting the company's appeal to the high court.

The case won't be the first time recently that justices have weighed in on a gender discrimination case. The Supreme Court's 2007 decision upholding a 180-day time limit in which employees must file a discrimination claim prompted outcry from labor and women's rights advocates.

The court's decision in that case prompted Congress to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, one of the first, major pieces of legislation signed into law after President Obama took office.

Obama signs stopgap measure to keep government running for another 15 days


By Shane D'Aprile 12/04/10 10:47 AM ET

President Obama signed a short-term stopgap measure into law Saturday that will keep the federal government operating through Dec. 18. 
It was passed by the House Wednesday and cleared by the Senate Thursday night, just a day before the current continuing resolution was set to expire.  
It's another in a series of temporary extensions passed by Congress given the failure of lawmakers to pass a formal budget for the new fiscal year. 
House and Senate Democrats want to push through an omnibus spending package or a continuing resolution through the end of fiscal year 2011, Sept. 30, to lock in spending at their desired levels. 
Republicans, on the other hand, would prefer a short-term extension, probably until early March, to apply spending cut pressure next year when they take over the House majority. 
-Vicki Needham contributed to this post.

Obama, Troops Cheer Each Other In Afghanistan

BEN FELLER | 12/ 4/10 01:08 AM | AP





BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — In a rousing holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama on Friday told cheering U.S. troops in Afghanistan they're succeeding in their vital mission fighting terrorism. But after he flew in secrecy for 13 hours to get here, foul weather kept him from nearby Kabul and a meeting to address frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai
Obama's surprise visit to the war zone, his second as president, came 10 days before he is to address the nation about a new review of U.S. strategy to defeat the Taliban and strengthen the Afghan government so American troops can begin leaving next year.
The trip also came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained U.S. relations with Afghanistan because of new and embarrassing leaked cables alleging widespread fraud and underscoring deep American concerns about Karzai.
There was no mention of that as the president spoke to more than 3,500 service members packed into a huge airplane hangar. After his remarks, he spent more than 10 minutes shaking hands, going around the hangar three times as they grabbed his hand and held cameras and cell phones high to take photos.
Obama stayed on this U.S. military base, the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division, the entire time he was here, just under four hours. He huddled with U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. And he visited wounded soldiers at a base hospital, personally dispensing five Purple Hearts to wounded service members.
"Because of the progress we're making, we look forward to a new phase next year, the beginning of the transition to Afghan responsibility," Obama told the troops. He thanked them for their efforts, noting the difficulty in being away from home during the holidays, and they repeatedly cheered him in return.
He said the U.S. was continuing "to forge a partnership with the Afghan people for the long term." And he said, "we will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who would attack the United States of America again. That will never happen."
There are now about 150,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, roughly 100,000 of them Americans. The U.S. and its NATO partners agreed last month in Lisbon, Portugal, to begin turning over control to local Afghan authorities in 2011, with a goal of completing that transition by the end of 2014.
White House officials said gusty winds and swirling dust led them to cancel Obama's planned helicopter visit to Kabul, about 30 miles north of here. A backup plan for a secure videoconference was also scrapped.

Waheed Omar, a Karzai spokesman, said the Afghan leader was "not upset" that the palace visit was scuttled. He noted that the two leaders had met during the conference in Lisbon and discussed the situation in Afghanistan in detail.
Obama, who has tripled U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, has come under increasing pressure to demonstrate progress in turning the tide against the Taliban insurgency in the battle that has now gone on for more than nine years. In his remarks to the troops, Obama cited "important progress."
"We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. And that's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense, targeting their leaders, pushing them out of their strongholds. Today, we can be proud that there are fewer areas under Taliban control and more Afghans have a chance to build a more hopeful future," he said.
He thanked the troops for their work and sacrifice "on behalf of more than 300 million Americans."
"You give me hope. You give me inspiration. Your resolve shows that Americans will never succumb to fear," he said to cheers and shouts.
Petraeus, the commander Obama is looking to to turn things around, introduced Obama to the troops and teased the president about the basketball injury to his lip last week. Presenting him with a 101st Airborne T-shirt, Petraeus told the president: "No one will mess with you if you wear this, Mr. President."
At the base hospital, Obama met with platoon members from the unit that lost six soldiers this week in brazen killings by an Afghan border policeman who turned fire on his U.S. trainers.
Mentioning that visit and his meeting with what Petraeus called "wounded warriors," Obama told the assembled troops: "I don't need to tell you this is a tough fight. ... It's a tough business. Progress comes slow. And there are going to be difficult days ahead. Progress comes at a high price."
Newly leaked U.S. cables show American diplomats portraying Afghanistan as rife with graft to the highest levels of government, with tens of millions of dollars flowing out of the country and a cash transfer network that facilitates bribes for corrupt Afghan officials, drug traffickers and insurgents.
A main concern in the cables appears to be Karzai himself, who emerges as a mercurial figure. In a July 7, 2009, dispatch, Eikenberry describes "two contrasting portraits" of the Afghan president.
"The first is of a paranoid and weak individual unfamiliar with the basics of nation building and overly self-conscious that his time in the spotlight of glowing reviews from the international community has passed," the cable says. "The other is that of an ever-shrewd politician who sees himself as a nationalist hero. ... In order to recalibrate our relationship with Karzai, we must deal with and challenge both of these personalities."
Obama aides later said the subject of the cables didn't come up during the Obama-Karzai phone call, which lasted 15 minutes. Ben Rhodes, a White House national security aide, told reporters Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had already spoken to Karzai about WikiLeaks disclosures.
After the long, unannounced flight from Washington, Obama landed in darkness under intense security.
He stepped off Air Force One clad in a brown leather jacket that he was also wearing when he spoke to troops. Plans of his trip into the war zone were tightly guarded.
Despite the upcoming review results, White House officials on the trip played down the significance of his upcoming speech. No big policy changes are expected, they said.
To deal with any doubts about reasons for the Karzai meeting being canceled, reporters traveling with Obama were escorted outside the air field hangar to get a glimpse of the conditions. The wind was blowing strongly, kicking up dust clouds as troops streamed in to hear Obama. An American flag whipped against its pole. At the presidential palace, U.S. armored vehicles were securing entrances. Carpets were ready to be unrolled.
The war in Afghanistan is the nation's longest after Vietnam, launched in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. This has been the deadliest year to date for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. More than 1,300 have died here since the war began, more than 450 in 2010.
The visit comes a year after Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to try to gain control – and then get the United States out – of a worsening conflict. Obama's plan is to start pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan in July.
___
Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Kabul and Tom Raum in Washington contributed to this report.
(This version corrects length of flight to 13 hours, not 14.)