Sept. 21, 2009

Afghanistan surge:

U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal says he needs more troops for the fighting in Afghanistan or the battle with the Taliban for control of the country would be lost.

McChrystal has submitted a 66-page assessment to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has since forwarded it to the White House where President Barack Obama and top aides are studying it.

The Washington Post posted a redacted copy of the report on its Web site.

Obama has withheld committing to additional troops for Afghanistan. Polling indicates the 8-year-old war is losing support among the general public and recent remarks by congressional Democrats suggest the war is also unpopular in the president's party.

McChrystal, the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said the situation in the field is serious but that success can be reached.

He said if allied forces don't regain the initiative against militant insurgents in the next year, the situation could become impossible to win.

The United States has committed 68,000 troops, not all of whom have arrived in Afghanistan yet, to the fighting. The New York Times said McChrystal may ask for as many as 45,000 more troops.

Diplomacy's week:

Monday is the International Day of Peace, significant this year because it also kicks off a key week in diplomacy.

The U.N. General Assembly this week hears of a series of world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama. The week ends with a Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

Obama, who speaks to the United Nations on Wednesday, has sidebar meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and a session with Chinese President Hu Jintoa on Tuesday.

Other meetings are set with new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The talk with Medvedev is likely to be very friendly, coming less than a week after Obama scrapped plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, the idea of which had irked the Russian leadership.

Obama blitz continues:

Having dominated Sunday morning on television, U.S. President Barack Obama looks to grab the late-night crowd on Monday.

Tapes of Obama's conversations with five of the network political talk shows were broadcast Sunday. Monday it's a different audience as he heads to "Late Night with David Letterman."

The White House downplays arguments that the president may be putting himself too much in front of the U.S. public. While the president is always news, hardly a day goes by without the Obama administration heading up an event somewhere in the country. Previous appearances haven't been reflected in a bounce in support, however.

The Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll on Sunday gave Obama a rating of minus 9, not much better than his polling figures before a prime-time appearance at Congress to tout healthcare reform. Rasmussen says opposition to Obama's plans on that particular issue stands at 56 percent.

But the White House is of the opinion that there is a vacuum in the news media, and if the president doesn't fill it someone else -- perhaps people not on the same political page as the administration -- will.

Emmy déjà vu:

"Mad Men," "30 Rock," Alec Baldwin, Glenn Close and Bryan Cranston were repeat winners at the 61st Prime-time Emmy Awards.

"Mad Men" was honored as best drama series and "30 Rock" for comedy while Baldwin was picked for acting in "30 Rock," Close won for her role in "Damages" and Cranston for his turn in the lead of "Breaking Bad."

"Little Dorrit," PBS' series based on the Charles Dickens novel, took the most awards (seven) with HBO's "Grey Gardens" right behind. "30 Rock" won an impressive five but the program had a record 22 nominations.

The Emmy were democratically spread around, with 20 programs receiving at least one award in the 28 categories covered Sunday.