Top Democrat warns Afghanistan will bankrupt domestic programs, threatens war surtax if Obama sends more troops

David Obey came to Congress in 1969, a young Democratic congressman from Wisconsin, opposed to the Vietnam War and mindful of the funding it was draining from Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs.

Thirty years later, he is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and adamant that Afghanistan is a similar quagmire that could bankrupt President Obama's domestic agenda.

"There ain't going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan," House Appropriations Chairman David Obey told ABC News. "If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask them to pay for it."

Comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam, Obey said that both were long-standing civil wars and that, in each case, the United States found itself with an unreliable partner on the ground.

"On the merits, I think it is a mistake to deepen our involvement," Obey said. "But if we are going to do that, then at least we ought to pay for it. Because if we don't, if we don't pay for it, the cost of the Afghan war will wipe out every initiative we have to rebuild our own economy."

"If we have to pay for the healthcare bill, we should pay for the war as well," Obey said, "by having a war surtax."

Obey's comments come just as Washington is starting to acknowledge the huge debt laid at its doorstep by recent programs -- including the massive drug-prescription bill and Iraq war costs enacted under the Bush administration as well as the healthcare overhaul and stimulus plans ginned up under Obama.

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The current national debt is $12 trillion, and the White House estimates that, by 2019, interest from the debt will top $700 billion a year. As one analyst, Pimco's William Gross, told the New York Times, “What a good country or a good squirrel should be doing is stashing away nuts for the winter. The United States is not only not saving nuts, it’s eating the ones left over from the last winter.”

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: David Obey. Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

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Atty. Gen. Eric Holder on hot seat about sending 9/11 trials to NYC: 'We need not cower in the face of this enemy'

It was a hearing in which both sides gave as good as they got.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Alabama's Jeff Sessions, criticized Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. for deciding to hold the trials of alleged 9/11 plotters in New York City, calling the move "dangerous, misguided and unnecessary" because it would put the city at greater risk and give Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the attacks, a platform.

But Holder, noting the long and successful record of New York prosecutors in managing terrorism trials, scoffed at that, insisting that the defendants' "hateful ideologies" will be no louder in civilian court than before a military commission. Noting that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Chief Ray Kelly think the city can be protected during the trial, Holder said:

I have every confidence that the presiding judge will ensure appropriate decorum. And if Khalid Shaikh Mohammed makes the same statements he made in his military commission proceedings, I have every confidence the nation and the world will see him for the coward he is. I'm not scared of what Khalid Shaikh Mohammed will have to say at trial, and no one else needs to be either. 

The attorney general also took a swipe at the George W. Bush administration, saying, "For eight years justice has been delayed for the 9/11 attacks. No more delay. It is time; it is past time to finally act." 

In short, said the attorney general, "we need not cower in the face of this enemy."

 -- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images

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Eric Holder defends decision to try 9/11 terrorists in federal court

Gitmo fallout: White House lawyer resigns; alleged 9/11 mastermind faces trial in NYC; Obama reacts

One of the first promises of the new Obama administration was to close, within one year, the Guantanamo prison, symbol of the Bush administration's terrorism policy of torture, detention and suspension of civil rights.

Today Atty. Gen. Eric Holder is set to announce that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and four others caught in the web of that fatal conspiracy will be tried in a civilian court in New York City, scene of the crime.

Mohammed, who has long claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed 3,000 Americans was subjected to repeated waterboarding by U.S. officials, which could pose a legal complication in his case.

Holder also plans to report his decision that another group, including the accused mastermind of the 2000 attack on the U.S. warship Cole, will be tried in military tribunals, which were recently revamped by Congress.

But the decision leaves others at the Cuban prison caught in a limbo. The 215 prisoners come from 25 countries, many from Yemen, and U.S. officials fear returning them to their homes will only recycle them into the Al Qaeda network. For domestic political reasons, governors in many U.S. states are reluctant to house the prisoners in their jails.

So with prospects dimming to meet the one-year deadline, the issue claimed its first political victim today as the White House announced the resignation of counsel Greg Craig, who directed the defense of President Clinton during his impeachment trial.

Defenders insist that Craig had wanted to leave for some time. Actually, reports ABC's Jake Tapper, Craig would have preferred a job in diplomacy, but faced a hurdle in that Secretary of Sate Hillary Rodham Clinton resented Craig's public defection to the Obama camp.

Stepping in: campaign lawyer Bob Bauer, who was fierce in his strategic fervor on Obama's behalf, crashing a conference call organized by rival Clinton's campaign and going head to head against Republican John McCain's counsel.

Could that be why his wife, Anita Dunn, announced her departure as White House communications director this week? Dunn has publicly taken on Fox News, describing the network as an arm of the Republican Party. So despite what some on the right thought, maybe her exit was not a victory for Glenn Beck but a shuffling of the chairs so somebody could stay home.

Asked about all of this in Japan on the first stop of his eight-day mission to Asia, Obama said Mohammed "will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. ... The American people insist on it, and my administration will insist on it."

-- Johanna Neuman

Photos: Top, White House Counsel Greg Craig, left, and Atty. Gen. Eric Holder at the White House on Aug. 24. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Bottom: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.

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What Pres. Obama told a wounded Fort Hood - text

President Obama's prepared remarks at Fort Hood Memorial Service, as provided by the White House

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life’s work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – that is their legacy.

Neither this country – nor the values that we were founded upon – could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories. 

Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a....

Gunman shouted 'Allah Akbar' before opening fire, witness says. Will the rampage affect Obama's decision?

A witness has told investigators that the Army major who allegedly opened fire on his fellow soldiers at Ft.  Hood Army Base Thursday shouted  "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is Great" and the rallying cry of suicide bombers around the world -- before unleashing his bloody assault that left 13 dead and 30 others wounded.

In a briefing with reporters this morning at the base, Col. John Rossi said, "We do have a witness who reported that."

And this morning on NBC's "Today" show, Lester Holt aired tape of the father of a soldier who said that his daughter told him the same thing.

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No one knows for sure yet. Lots of investigations are underway. This morning, after obtaining a search warrant, federal authorities seized the suspect's computer. Maybe it will turn out that anger is just anger, that motive is less important than fury.

But there are other reasons to suspect that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a military psychiatrist who treated combat veterans and who was described as a devout Muslim, was motivated by political animus against the United States.

Reports say he had received unsatisfactory reviews while he was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, in part because he reportedly got into arguments with soldiers about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He said maybe Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor," retired Col. Terry Lee told Fox News. "At first we thought he meant help the armed forces, but apparently that wasn't the case. Other times he would make comments [that] we shouldn't be in the war in the first place."

And then there are the Web postings, which authorities are now investigating. As the Los Angeles Times reported this morning, in a post on the website scribd.com that appears to be from May, a writer named "NidalHasan" likened a suicide bomber to a soldier who jumps on a grenade to save the lives of his fellow officers in that both were sacrificing their lives "for a more noble cause."

That cause, the post read, "is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan."

The massacre will no doubt weigh on President Obama as he decides whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. This afternoon he visits soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital, a trip planned before the shooting.

-- Johanna Neuman

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The USS New York returns some of 9/11 to the city

This item isn't really about politics, although it's obviously related.

We were struck yesterday, amid all the hoo-hah around here too about today's elections and politics, by the solemn, yet celebratory cruise into a gray New York harbor of the Navy's newest amphibious assault ship, the USS New York.

In case you haven't heard, the ship's keel includes more than seven tons of recycled steel from the wreckage of the World Trade Center on 9/11. And the ship's crest carries the motto "Never Forget." There's a video below of the ship's recent sea trials.

The city had warned denizens of lower Manhattan in advance. So the ship paused in the same Hudson River that had guided the terrorist-flown planes to....

... their targets. And the crew fired a 21-gun salute.

The new vessel, which carries a complement of 700 Marines and assorted aircraft and hovercraft, will stay in New York City a few days. But its image, we suspect, will live on a good while longer in the minds of many who witnessed those awful hours and all that has gone on at home and abroad during the 2,975 days since.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press

Cheney: 'I don't recall' leaking Valerie Plame's CIA cover to 'Scooter' Libby

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, sometimes referred to as the Darth Vader of American politics, has been valiant in his defense of his former chief of staff, I, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only guy convicted of lying about his role in the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Cheney pushed hard for a full pardon, reportedly furious when former President Bush only commuted Libby's sentence.

For years it was assumed that Cheney masterminded the leak in an effort to discredit Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, whose reports out of Niger threw doubt on White House claims that Iraq was importing ingredients to make weapons of mass destruction. Now, in just-released documents, the FBI concludes that Cheney told Libby and his press secretary, Cathie Martin, about Plame's ID about a month before the news hit the papers.

But the amazing thing about the FBI documents describing Cheney's 2004 interviews with investigators is how often he employs the "I don't recall" line.

Cheney told the FBI he did not recall discussing Plame with Libby prior to her name being published in a column by Robert Novak in July 2003, and said he had no knowledge of Libby's meeting with New York Times reporter Judith Miller before Plame was identified in that paper.

Oh, and the former vice president didn't recall about two dozen other events he was involved in.

Oddly, though Cheney said he could not recall whether he discussed Plame with White House political guru Karl Rove, Libby and others, he was certain he did not discuss her with former Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage (the original source of the leak). Also, he was real sure that Wilson's report on Niger was weak, calling it "amateur hour" at the CIA.

"For years the American people have wondered what role Vice President Cheney played in outing former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which helped free the documents. Now, she said, "we're one step closer" to finding out.

During his closing argument at Libby’s trial, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said a cloud remained over the vice president. Said Sloan: "Mr. Cheney's near total amnesia regarding his role in this monumental Washington scandal -- resulting in the conviction of his top aide -- shows why."

-- Johanna Neuman

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 Photo credit: Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images North America.

First U.S. diplomat resigns over Afghanistan, sending ripples through Obama White House

He is a former Marine captain with combat experience in Iraq, a former uniformed officer at the Pentagon, a civilian in Iraq who joined the Foreign Service to make a difference.

Now, Matthew Hoh has resigned, the first official protest resignation over the Afghanistan War. In a letter to the State Department's personnel office last month, the 36-year-old diplomat wrote:

I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan...To put simply: I fail to see the value or the worth in continued U.S. casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year old civil war.

The Atlantic has an embedded copy of the resignation here.

According to the Washington Post, which broke the story this morning, senior officials reacted quickly to the defection. The U.S. ambassdor to Afghanistan offered Hoh a job. He declined. Then Richard Holbrooke, the administration's go-to guy on the region, sat Hoh down for a chat, and offered him a job on his staff in D.C.

"We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer," Holbrooke told the Post. "We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him."

First Hoh accepted the job, then changed his mind. "I recognize the career implications, but it wasn't the right thing to do," he told the Post in an interview Friday, two days after his resignation became final. "I'm not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," he added, calling Afghanistan essentially a far-away civil war.

President Obama meanwhile continues to weigh Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops. Addressing 3,500 military personnel and their families in a naval air hangar in Florida yesterday, Obama seemed to answer critics of his deliberative process, saying:

I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary. And if it is necessary, we will back you up to the hilt.

-- Johanna Neuman

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Photo: A Marine points orders Afghan men to show they're not carrying explosives. Credit: David Furst / AFP / Getty Images.

John Kerry's Afghan war speech; Foreshadowing Obama's decision?

It's been about two months now since Gen. Stanley McChrystal submitted his Afghan war report to the Pentagon and White House, reportedly asking for something like 40,000 more U.S. troops. Monday Obama and his advisors had yet another meeting.

And the diligent Jake Tapper reports on his Political Punch blog that the current target is to announce his decision between the Nov. 7 Afghan runoff presidential vote and Obama's Nov. 11 departure on a long Asian trip.

Oh, look! Those dates also come after the U.S. elections, especially the crucial governors' races in Virginia and New Jersey so widely seen as 10-month referenda on Obama.

However, Tapper also reports the Afghan announcement could be delayed until after the Asian trip, which puts it close to Thanksgiving. And nearly three months after the report's delivery.

The long policy pondering has now even made the late-night comedy shows. Last night NBC's Jay Leno noted that former VP Dick Cheney had chastised Obama for "dithering" on his war decisions. And, Leno claimed, the White House response was that it was pondering a reply and would have one within six to eight weeks.

Obama wasn't backing off his war of necessity argument in a Florida speech to sailors and Marines earlier Monday (full text here), the necessity being to deny Afghanistan as Al Qaeda's safe haven to repeat the 9/11 attacks.

A major new troop surge (adding to the 68,000 U.S. troops already there) would anger the Democratic left, which Obama needs for the healthcare vote, especially if he gives up on the public option. And the left is already impatient about other issues, including the promised but continually delayed abolition of don't ask-don't tell.

The need for unifying distractions could help explain all these gratuitous....

Obama to troops: I won't hesitate to use force, but...

En route to another Democratic Party fundraiser -- this one in Miami tonight -- President Obama stopped in Jacksonville to thank American military personnel and families for their service but to make a vow about no hasty decisions regarding their future deployments.

Sounding slightly defensive after recent criticism that his two-month-long internal discussion of the next step in the Afghan war was taking too long, Obama cited a list of improvements for the military, including increasing spending and cutting waste.

He paid tribute to the 14 latest U.S. casualties that bring 2009 losses in Afghanistan well past the 2008 total after only 10 months. October's U.S. dead now total at least 47, compared with 51 in August, the worst month yet in the eight-year struggle.

And then the president came to what White House speechwriters planted as the day's intended sound bite from the appearance:

And while I will never hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests, I also promise you this -- and this is very important as we consider our next steps in Afghanistan: I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary.

It worked. (See video below)

Vice President Biden spent most of the day in Ohio at two Democratic fundraisers and at an official event to highlight stimulus spending. Unemployment in Ohio remains above 10%.

Still no definitive word on when Obama will announce his decision on the Pentagon's reported request for some 40,000 additional troops to quell the Afghan insurgency.

While he wouldn't mind holding the additional support over the upcoming Afghan presidential runoff to help ensure a fair result, Obama wouldn't mind having word of an expanded military commitment emerge after next Tuesday's elections stateside, especially the two governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia. Sending more troops, even considerably less than requested, could well alienate voters on the Democratic left and keep them at home.

As usual, we have the president's full text below.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Remarks by President Obama at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., as provided by the White House
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody.  How's it going, Jacksonville? (Applause.)

Let me begin by thanking Secretary Mabus for the introduction, for your service, Ray. I know we've got a lot of naval aviators here, and Ray is a former surface warfare officer.  But don't hold that against him.  Don't hold that against him, now. (Laughter.) Because Ray Mabus is doing an outstanding job as Secretary of the Navy. 

I also want to thank all your outstanding local leaders for welcoming me here today: Admiral Tim Alexander; your CO, Captain Jack Scorby; and your Command Master Chief, Jeff Hudson. To Chris Scorby and all the spouses who are with us -- you hold our military families together.  We honor you and we are grateful to you. (Applause.)

Now, it is great to be here at one of America's finest naval air stations. But we also have....