Candidates Seize Petraeus Moment

Xi Jinping, China's next president, to meet with Obama

(NEWSER) - The man slated to be China's next president began his US tour today, meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office before having lunch with Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Biden will serve as Xi Jinping's host in Washington, the New York Times reports. Other stops on the agenda: a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, and a high-level trip to the Pentagon, where he'll get an honor guard salute and meet with Leon Panetta and the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. More»

President promises US will still have 'strong presence'

(NEWSER) - As the last 6,000 American troops prepare to leave Iraq by Dec. 31, President Obama today heralded the end of the divisive war—but issued a warning to the country's neighbors: The US will continue to have a "strong presence in the Middle East." He added, in a speech made after meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki this morning, that "the United States will never waiver in the defense of our allies, our partners, and our interests." More»

Preliminary hearing begins Dec. 16

(NEWSER) - Bradley Manning's preliminary hearing is set to begin Dec. 16, and if the US Army private has his way, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be among the witnesses. The president and the secretary of state were included on a 20-page list of defense witnesses in a request made Friday, Politico reports. Manning's preliminary hearing will determine whether the case against him—accusing him of passing classified information to WikiLeaks—should be referred for a full-scale court martial. More»

Plus, John McCain, Michele Bachmann, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell

(NEWSER) - Add Hillary Clinton to the list of people not exactly choking back tears over Moammar Gadhafi's death: The secretary of state today said that while "no one wants to see any human being" meet such a grisly end, "I know what a great relief it was to millions of Libyans that the past was finished." Libyans can now "make up for lost time of 42 years" and develop the "democracy and prosperity" they deserve. But Clinton wants the Lockerbie bomber back in prison, notes Politico, saying, "I will raise it with the new Libyan government," and calling his release "a miscarriage of justice." Elsewhere on your Sunday dial, as per Politico: More»

GOP candidate calls lack of new deal an 'astonishing failure'

(NEWSER) - Republican presidential contenders are railing against President Obama over his decision to bring home all American troops in Iraq by January 1, reports CBS News .

• Mitt Romney: "President Obama's astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women. The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government."
• White House response: "Mitt Romney didn't lay out a plan to end the war in Iraq in his foreign policy agenda—he barely even mentioned Iraq—but he is apparently willing to leave American troops there without identifying a new mission."