President Obama: Romney Has No Plan For Afghanistan

Campaigning in Boulder, Colorado on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama criticized rival Mitt Romney, saying he has no exit plan for the war in Afghanistan.

Obama Meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai

By: Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks Sunday with its Western-backed leader and vowed to pursue the war on terror "with vigor" if elected, an Afghan official said.

On the second day of an international tour designed to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Illinois Sen. Obama and a pair of colleagues held two hours of talks with President Hamid Karzai at his palace in the capital.

Obama has chided Karzai for not doing more to build confidence in his government, which remains weak after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.

He made no public comment after the meeting, but said in a written statement that his main purpose was to see U.S troops, thank them for their "extraordinary service" and let them know the United States is proud of them.

Obama said he and his colleagues were talking to military and diplomatic leaders, and Afghanistan's leaders about whether the U.S. has the right strategy and resources to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida.

"Our message to the Afghan government is this: We want a strong partnership based on 'more for more' -- more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people," Obama and Sens. Chuck Hagel, (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said in a joint statement. "We need a sense of urgency and determination.

Obama Meets with Afghan President Hamid Karzai....

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.18.07 (500th Post)

House passes spending bill to fund war, agencies.

Money for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer likely to be cut. That's because the House approved a $516 billion spending bill yesterday that funds the wars in both of those countries as well as 14 Cabinet agencies. President Bush says he'll sign the measure if $40 billion more is added by the Senate for the Iraq war. The Senate is expected to debate the bill today, and analysts predict that it'll pass. The measure mostly falls within Bush's budget, but does shift billions of dollars into politically sensitive programs he sought to cut.

Bill Clinton says former President George H.W. Bush will pitch in to help him and his wife when they move into the White House. The Democratic president hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton will apparently dispatch Clinton and Bush on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America's reputation by Bush's son, President George W. Bush. Clinton added that that would be his wife's number one priority as president. There's no comment yet on whether George H.W. Bush would chip in when his son leaves office next year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he'll become prime minister if the man he's backing for president wins elections. Dmitry Medvedev is Putin's choice as successor. Yesterday, he was officially confirmed as the presidential candidate for the United Russia Party. Shortly after, Medvedev asked Putin to serve as prime minister if elected. The 42-year-old presidential candidate is expected to win in elections scheduled for next March.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced trip to Iraq earlier today. She visited the volatile northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, then went onto Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials there. It was reported that she was also meeting with President Jalal Talabani there. The trip comes as Turkish troops recently crossed into Iraq to attack Kurdish separatist rebels. It's a conflict that the U.S., Iraq, and the Kurdish Regional Government don't want to spiral out of control.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.17.07

Lieberman to endorse McCain for president.

Senator Joe Lieberman will back Senator John McCain for president. The Democrat turned Independent is planning to announce his plan today. An aide to Lieberman says the senator decided to endorse the Republican presidential hopeful because he considers him the most capable commander in chief and the best candidate to unite the country against Islamic extremism. The aide says the move isn't an endorsement of the Republican party, only the person. Lieberman will reportedly continue to caucus with the Democrats.

Russia says it's begun to deliver fuel to an atomic power station in Iran that's been the center of concern over Tehran's nuclear program. A Russian nuclear equipment monopoly is reportedly building a $1 billion nuclear plant in that country under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Construction on the Russian-designed facility has continued despite pressure from the U.S. The Russian Foreign Ministry says the Iranian side has provided written guarantees that fuel can only be used at and for that plant.

Baghdad is calling on Turkey to stop military assaults on northern Iraq. This comes after yesterday's air strikes aimed at Kurdish rebels that killed a woman, injured four people, and destroyed a health clinic, a school, and bridges. Tensions have been high along the Iraqi-Turkish border, with Turkey threatening to launch a full-scale offensive against separatist guerrillas from the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK.

The U.S. is reviewing its mission in Afghanistan amid rising concerns about lagging progress there. The study is looking at the efforts of U.S. troops placed along Afghanistan's rugged border with Pakistan. U.S. commanders say they've seen an increase in attacks by the Taliban there. They also say the movement has become more diverse with warlords, drug bosses and local fighters joining in. This comes as officials boast about progress in Iraq, saying the country is experiencing its most significant dip in violence since the first year of the invasion.

UPI VIDEO NEWS 12.13.07

No fireworks in last night's Republican debate.

Last night's debate among Republican presidential candidates in Iowa lacked any brutal exchanges. That's despite previous meetings that resembled more of a street-fighting scene. The debate focused on education and economic issues while hot-button topics like illegal immigration weren't discussed. Nor was Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton mentioned, who's been a top target in most of the recent GOP debates.

For a second time in three months, President Bush vetoed a children's health bill. The bill would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years and would have boosted its enrollment to about 10 million children. Bush said he vetoed the bill for the same reasons as the previous one, saying that it raised cigarette taxes and provided coverage for children of middle-class families, instead of the working poor. This was the President's seventh veto in seven years.

Democratic lawmakers say they're closing in on a budget deal that would give President Bush as much as $70 billion in war funding. The deal would lack a key condition Democrats had attached to previous funding bills that called for most U.S. troops to come home from Iraq by the end of 2008. That omission would be a significant legislative victory for Bush. Democratic sources say the president is likely to get new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before Congress adjourns for the year

Former Vice-President Al Gore says the U.S. is principally responsible for blocking progress at the United Nations Climate Conference. Gore made at the comment at the conference earlier today and urged delegates there to take immediate action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The U.S., Japan and several other governments don't accept a draft document that suggests industrialized nations cut emissions by 25 to 40 percent by the year 2020. They say specific targets would limit the scope of future talks.