Obama's Afghan Troop Surge Clears Congress

And how we might actually be able to escape the war

(NEWSER) - Underneath all the Beltway intrigue in Bob Woodward’s new book “lurks a saga of tragedy,” writes Fred Kaplan of Slate . The tragic hero: Barack Obama, who, after painstaking analysis, escalated a potentially unwinnable war. Fed up with a Pentagon that refused to offer him any options other than the full-scale escalation it favored, Obama devised his own strategy. It was, Woodward writes, “one of the rare examples in recent American history where a president had fully understood the contours of a national-security decision.” More»

Rhode Island Congressman blasts media for Afghanistan Coverage

(NEWSER) - Patrick Kennedy blasted the media on the floor of the House this afternoon, calling the focus on the likes of Eric Massa rather than the war in Afghanistan "despicable." The lame-duck Rhode Island Democrat was speaking—and eventually shouting—in favor of a Dennis Kucinich-sponsored resolution requiring President Obama to pull American troops out of Afghanistan. More»

The Dow is up more than 2,600 points, at least

(NEWSER) - President Obama is about to celebrate—maybe that's not the right term—one year in office, and the AP takes a look at some numbers that have defined his inaugural turn around the sun.

• The Dow: Perhaps the only clear victory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen from 7,949.09 on Jan. 20, 2009, to close at 10,609.65 on Friday.
• Unemployment: 13 million adults were out of work when Obama took office. That number is now 14.7 million.

Terrorism trumped health care over vacation, and there's more

(NEWSER) - President Obama is back at the White House after an 11-day vacation in Hawaii, and he has his work cut out for him. USA Today runs down the most pressing issues awaiting the president in 2010.

• Terrorism: The attempted bombing of Flight 253 returned security to the top of the list. Some heads may roll after the near-catastrophe.

Obama's West Point speech forced postponement of Christmas special

(NEWSER) - President Obama's speech on the Afghanistan troop buildup bumped the annual airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, really ticking off the mayor of Arlington, Tenn. He apparently hasn't heard that nothing is private on Facebook, where he vented about TV scheduling: "Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load," wrote the curiously named Russell Wiseman, who runs a town about 30 miles northeast of Memphis. More»