No Afghanistan Withdrawal, Obama Tells Lawmakers

Strongest since March as president improves among conservatives

(NEWSER) - President Obama's job-approval numbers remain poor, but at 49% they have rebounded to their strongest point since March, showing substantial improvements from young voters, seniors, and independents in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Since September, Obama's approval rating has risen by 9 percentage points among Democrats, to reach 82%, and 8 points among Republications, now hitting 19%. But the demographic where Obama has seen the biggest improvement in recent months? Conservatives, where approval of Obama has climbed 13 percentage points and now sits at 32%. More»

Krugman: It's a 'disaster' for the country, and shows he'll surrender again

(NEWSER) - President Obama caved deeply in a debt deal that made the Republicans big winners, with both Andrew Leonard and Paul Krugman arguing that he "surrendered." Their take:

• “In the end, President Obama had to admit surrender,” writes Andrew Leonard in Salon , detailing “a smashing victory for the Tea Party and a crushing defeat for Democrats.” In Obama’s defense, he “had to choose between an awful deal or an outright catastrophe.” But he made a mistake in trying to sell it as a compromise. "The president said it was not 'the deal I would have preferred.' He should have said it's a bad deal that does not address the pressing needs of the nation," but one that he had no choice but to sign.

Democrats' approval numbers slightly better at 31% to GOP's 21%

(NEWSER) - Some 71% of Americans disapprove of Congressional Republicans’ handling of the debt crisis, while just 21% support the GOP’s efforts, a CBS News poll finds. Congressional Democrats fare better, but only slightly so: 58% disapprove of their work on the issue; 31% approve. President Obama gets the best poll numbers of all the players, but his 48% disapproval figure remains larger than his approval rating, at 43%. More»

Sarkozy has 4,000 troops there

(NEWSER) - A mere 12 hours after President Obama spoke on his Afghanistan drawdown, France offered its support for the plan. It will also begin a pullout of its 4,000 troops next month, “in a proportional manner and in a timeframe similar to the pullback of the American reinforcements,” the Élysée Palace said. The decision came after a phone conversation between Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, the New York Times reports. More»

Troop withdrawal could lead to instability, some fear

(NEWSER) - Political leaders in Afghanistan are concerned that President Obama's decision to start withdrawing US forces could lead to a repeat of the US withdrawal in 1989, when Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was allowed to gain major influence. "We don't want to go back 20 years when [ISI was] making the decisions about Afghanistan," one mayor tells the Wall Street Journal . Adding to the concern is the fact that billions of dollars in aid cuts will likely accompany the withdrawal, Reuters reports. For his part, Afghan President Hamid Karzai appeared supportive of Obama's speech. More»