Bush, Congress discussing U.S. economy
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Congressional leaders, President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson discussed in a conference call Thursday a plan to boost the U.S. economy.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Bush's acknowledgment of the immediate need for a stimulus package "significant progress."
Through bipartisan negotiations, she said, "we are hopeful that we will agree on legislation that provides timely, targeted and temporary assistance to America's middle class."
Bush and key congressional leaders were in general agreement on a tax rebate, some spending for programs such as unemployment insurance and possibly some small-insurance tax breaks, sources familiar with the conference call told CBS News.
Congressional leaders of both parties have indicated a willingness to compromise. To move discussions of the stimulus package along, Democrats have decided to pursue their "pay as you go" rules, while Republicans shelved their plans to make Bush's 2001 tax cuts permanent.
"We hope that the president will agree in the near future to work with us to develop a comprehensive package that is targeted, timely and temporary, and that provides an urgently needed boost for the economy and the middle class," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Gates wants long-term Iraq evaluation
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he asked U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus to evaluate and then make recommendations on a long-term military presence in Iraq.
"What we need from Gen. Petraeus is his view of the circumstances in Iraq and what he thinks can happen in the second half of 2008," Gates said Thursday during a news conference.
Gates said "all the evidence available" indicates the current drawdown of five brigade combat teams should be completed by the end of July.
Independently, he said he would ask the U.S. Central Command to conduct its own analysis of Iraq from a regional perspective and include an assessment of Afghanistan.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff also will conduct an independent analysis, only looking at the U.S. military's global requirements, Gates said.
"We will see what happens in March (when an update is due), but I want to make sure that the president has the opportunity to hear from these different perspectives," Gates said.
Date for U.S. pullout from Iraq uncertain
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Two Defense Department officials told the House Armed Services panel Thursday they are unsure when the United States can pull its troops out of Iraq.
Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq, and Mark Kimmitt, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, said Iraq expects to be able to handle internal security sometime between 2009 and 2012, and protect itself from other countries a decade or more later.
Dubik said Iraqi security forces, including military and police, are expected to number 580,000 by the end of 2008.
"The security forces are, in fact, bigger and better than they have been at any time since we've begun this effort," Dubik said. "But the progress, of course, is mixed with some continuing challenges."
Dubik and Kimmitt said the United States may not need to maintain a force in Iraq until Iraq's military is totally self-sufficient.
Judge suggests CIA lying about videotapes
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A federal judge in New York said Thursday that he might question CIA agents about the destruction of two videotapes of harsh interrogations of detainees.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to grant a request by the American Civil Liberties Union to hold the CIA in contempt for refusing to produce records about the tapes, The New York Times reported. However, he doubted the agency's claim that the records do not exist, saying it was hard to believe the tapes were of so little value that nothing was kept on file.
"I just can't accept it," he said. "If it came up in an ordinary case, it would not be credible," the judge said, adding, "It boggles the mind."
The ACLU has filed a freedom of information act request for any documents.
The U.S. House Intelligence Committee held a closed hearing Wednesday on the tapes, made at secret prisons outside the United States. John Rizzo, the CIA acting general counsel, testified.
The committee chairman, Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said he was convinced the CIA skirted its duties to report to congressional oversight members regarding the tapes and their destruction, The Washington Post said Thursday.
