Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will endorse a $20 billion plan to substantially increase the size of Afghanistan’s army and will also restructure the military command of American and NATO forces in response to the growing Taliban threat, senior Pentagon and military officials said Thursday. Taken together, the two decisions are an acknowledgment of shortcomings that continue to hinder NATO- and American-led operations in Afghanistan. With the war in Iraq still an obstacle to any immediate American troop increase in Afghanistan, the plan was described by officials as an attempt to increase allied and Afghan capabilities in advance of deploying the additional American brigades that Mr. Gates and his commanders agree are necessary.
Second, Russia Threatens Retaliation Against the Georgian Republic:
The sharpest fighting since the early 1990s in the disputed Caucasian enclave of South Ossetia threatened to draw Russia and the American-backed former Soviet republic of Georgia into direct military conflict on Friday.
. . . As Georgian forces besieged Tskhinvali, the capital of the enclave, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia promised to "punish" those responsible for what he called "a deep violation of international law" by Georgia that he said had led to the deaths of Russian citizens and Russian peacekeepers stationed in Tskhinvali.
Third, Pakistani President Musharraf Won't Resign:
President Pervez Musharraf will stage a spirited defense against impeachment charges the governing coalition is pursuing against him, and has no intention of resigning under pressure, his key allies said Friday.
Mr. Musharraf, who has been president for eight years, faces the first impeachment proceedings in Pakistani history, after the leaders of the two major political parties in the ruling coalition announced Thursday they would seek to remove him.
Fourth, a 2.3 Billion Loss For Fannie Mae:
Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest mortgage finance company, offered additional evidence on Friday that the housing slump was deepening by reporting a $2.3 billion loss in the second quarter.
The increase in credit losses “is a reflection of the extraordinary pressures at work in the housing and mortgage markets,” Fannie Mae’s chief financial officer, Stephen M. Swad, said in a statement. “The credit picture remains very difficult.”
Fannie Mae’s news comes two days after the nation’s other housing giant, Freddie Mac, revealed a loss three times larger than analysts had anticipated. . . . “Our second-quarter results reflect challenging conditions in the housing and mortgage markets that began in 2006 and have deepened through 2007 and 2008,” the chief executive, Daniel H. Mudd, said in a statement.
Our international prestige is nonexistent (was there anything more pathetic than to listen to George Bush lecture anybody on human rights?). The Iraq Debacle slouches on. The forgotten war in Afghanistan becomes more difficult. The economy is in shambles. Unemployment and inflation are on the rise. Gas prices have risen over 300% during the Bush Administration. It would be difficult to do more damage in 8 years than the Bush Administration has done.
Of course Democrats will win the election. But it is to their discredit that there will not be a permanent realignment come November. It is an indictment of the Democratic Party that its victory will be relatively modest.
By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only
