The Washington Times

Afghan, Pakistani Taliban Diverge On Goals ; Split Muddles U.S. Strategy

Both go by the name "Taliban," but militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan are increasingly diverging in their ultimate goal. The Pakistanis have joined al Qaeda's campaign to attack Western targets and spread radical Islam while the Afghans want to rid their country of foreign troops but harbor no global ambitions, according to a number of prominent analysts. The split potentially complicates U.S. strategy in the region while opening a route toward negotiations in Afghanistan.

Chinese Tv Interrupts Obama's Appearances ; President Talks Tough On Rights

The ceremony that served as President Obama's formal welcome to this city had all the visual grandeur and red-carpeted elegance a television camera crew could desire - a military review, a long walk across the opulent Great Hall of the People, an expansive mural depicting the Great Wall. And it had one element that made it ideal for the Chinese national broadcast station, CCTV: silence.

Colorado to Tax Sales of Medical Marijuana ; Another Step to Mainstream

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. on Tuesday directed the state's medical-marijuana dispensaries to pay sales tax and obtain retail- sales licenses, bringing the once-taboo product closer to mainstream respectability. Colorado is now the second state, behind California, to tax and regulate medical-marijuana sales, a move that comes on the heels of the Obama administration's decision in October to leave enforcement of laws governing medical marijuana to the states.

D.C. Contractor Repaired Gray's Home ; Council Chairman Defends Work As Proper

Finding a reliable company to do home repair and renovation can be a headache for any property owner. But D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray fared better than most when a politically connected megadeveloper that works with city agencies arranged for what he says were minor repairs and prepared plans to renovate his home last summer. It was an unusual job for William C. Smith & Co., which routinely works with D.C. agencies, community centers and schools to build affordable housing and comme...

Delays Weigh Down Obama's Hefty Agenda ; Senators Put Off Priorities As Job Worries, Deficit Grow

President Obama's to-do list is getting longer, not shorter, as key priorities slip into the future and are joined by new pressing concerns over jobs and the ballooning deficit. This week, Senate Democrats announced that they've bumped action on climate change into next year, and House Democrats won't take up a rewrite of financial regulations until next month at the earliest. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has signaled a desire to act to boost jobs and to try to reduce the deficit - the...

Health Programs Have History of Cost Overruns

As President Obama and Congress craft the largest national health insurance program since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, they insist that the final product will add "not one dime" to the federal deficit. But cost projections are notoriously unreliable, and history is filled with examples of federal programs - especially in health care - that cost far more than originally predicted.

Obama Gets Delay of Fort Hood Probe ; Republicans Urge Hill Inquiry

The Obama administration on Tuesday had the president's National Security Council take control of congressional briefings on the Fort Hood killings and asked Democratic leaders to delay a probe, as top Republicans said intelligence shortcomings blamed for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks are re-emerging. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the NSC had taken over the briefings "due to the high visibility of the issues surrounding the t...

Turkish-Cypriot Leader Optimistic On Peace Talks

Turkish-Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat says recent talks with Greek-Cypriot leaders made significant progress toward a power- sharing settlement and that he is confident that Europe's last wall, dividing the island's capital, Nicosia, can be dismantled before April presidential balloting in Northern Cyprus. In an interview, the moderate, pro-Western Mr. Talat invited his Greek-Cypriot counterpart, Dimitris Christofias, to attend Camp David-style marathon peace talks by the end of the year...

Death by Political Correctness

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is now conscious and being nursed back to health by hospital staff, just days after opening fire on crowds of unarmed American soldiers at the Fort Hood Readiness Center. Maj. Hasan reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar!" - a phrase meaning "God is great!"- before discharging 100 bullets at some 300 unarmed U.S. troops who had gathered for pre-deployment processing. By the time his rampage ended, Maj. Hasan had massacred 13 servicemen and women, and injured 29. In all likeli...

It's Time for Conservatives to Reapply Core Principles

This past August, I held town-hall meetings across my home state of South Dakota. Through all of the heat and frustration, two main themes emerged as my constituents' fundamental concerns: costs and control. Their worries about unrestrained federal spending and expanding government control were rooted in the massive government-run health care takeover plan being debated in Congress, proposals to raise energy prices in the name of fighting global warming, the government's runaway debt, and the...

Bishops' Letter Defines Marriage ; Man-Woman Union in Keeping with 'Divine Plan'

The nation's Catholic bishops approved a pastoral letter on marriage Tuesday as their pivotal effort in their battle to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The letter, "Love and Life in the Divine Plan" passed by 180 votes to 45, with three abstentions. It is part of a multipronged effort to educate the nation's 67 million Catholic faithful that already includes an English-language Web site: ForYourMarriage.org, which was started in June 2007.

Obama Targets Financial Fraud ; Task Force Will Include States

The Obama administration announced Tuesday the formation of an interagency task force aimed at preventing and prosecuting financial crimes. The so-called Financial Fraud Task Force replaces the Corporate Fraud Task Force, which was formed in 2002 in response to financial scandals earlier this decade.

Gop's Bid to Filibuster Judicial Nominee Fails ; Senate Vote Clears Path for Obama's 1st Circuit Court Pick

The Democrat-led Senate squashed Republican efforts to filibuster Judge David Hamilton on Tuesday, clearing the way for confirmation of President Obama's first circuit court nominee. In a 70-29 vote, 10 Republicans joined 60 members of the Democratic caucus to clear the procedural hurdle easily and prevent a filibuster after a sharp floor debate between top members of the Senate Judiciary panel over Judge Hamilton's qualifications and the pace of judicial nominations.

Clark Urges Congress to Plan Exit Strategy in Afghanistan

Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark urged members of Congress Tuesday to adopt an exit strategy for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Speaking to the House Armed Services subcommittee on oversight and investigations, Gen. Clark said American leaders should strengthen the partnership with Pakistan - including sharing intelligence on al Qaeda operations - and promote economic development in Afghanistan to undercut the drug trade that's fueled by poppy harvesting.

Industry Output Up Only Slightly ; Raises Fears About Recovery

Production from the nation's factories, mines and utilities increased slightly in October after three months of strong growth, suggesting that the nation's nascent recovery may be slowing. Industrial production edged higher by just 0.1 percent in October after jumping an average of nearly 1 percent per month in July, August and September, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. Led by a decline in auto production, factory output actually declined 0.1 percent last month after registering average...

Merrill Takeover Wasn't Forced, Lawmaker Says

A senior House Democrat denied that the government forced Bank of America to go through with a takeover of Merrill Lynch, despite past comments to the contrary from the bank's former top executive. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, during a Tuesday hearing of his panel, said that evidence and testimony by Bank of America officials show that "nobody in the government did anything improper during this transaction."

Trumped On Trade ; Eu Takes Reins As U.S.-Korea Deal Stalls

Failure by the United States and South Korea to ratify a 2007 free trade agreement has American businesses fretting that European competitors may be about to outflank them. The long-languishing Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is widely expected to be on the agenda when Presidents Obama and Lee Myung-bak meet at their Seoul summit Thursday. Adding to criticism of U.S. trade policy aired at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore last weekend, Seoul is irked that the dea...

D.C. Vote On Gay Marriage Denied ; Ruling Called 'a Slap in Face'

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics on Tuesday denied a petition to put a ballot initiative before city voters that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. The decision came the same day the D.C. Council scheduled a Dec. 1 initial vote on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

Man Charged with Killing 9-Year-Old ; November Set to Be Most Violent Month in '09

Metropolitan Police said Tuesday that they arrested a Hyattsville man for the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old Columbia Heights boy during an apparent robbery on Saturday. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said Josue Pena, 26, a known associate of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, is charged with first- degree murder in the death of Oscar Fuentes of the 1400 block of Columbia Road Northwest Saturday night.

Actor in Role of Helping Homeless Teens

These are statistics that aren't as familiar to Americans as some other data, and a national campaign called Code Blue: Reviving a Generation says it is important for Americans to make sure lawmakers and policymakers don't forget them. Code Blue says on its Web site: