UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Jobs forum seeks ideas to grow economy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The Obama administration, having signaled a reluctance to invest more in the U.S. economy because of deficit concerns, is sponsoring a jobs summit Thursday.

President Barack Obama was to kick off the afternoon forum, which provides a chance for the administration's economic team to meet corporate leaders, small-business owners, non-profits and labor leaders to discuss ideas on how to grow the U.S. economy, the White House said.

The administration, worried about adding to the federal deficit, has been cool to another round of stimulus funding to help lower the U.S. jobless rate, and views the summit as a way to demonstrate its concern about U.S. workers and the jobs market, The Washington Post reported.

"We want to make sure it is not just the public sector doing this in a vacuum," senior adviser Valerie Jarrett told the Post. "It's important we engage the private sector as well."

Breakout sessions include discussions on green job creation, small business job growth, creating jobs through infrastructure rebuilding and expanding opportunities for U.S. workers by taking advantage of the global trade rebound.

U.S. public wary of Afghan war effort

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Some Democrats, noting the declining U.S. public support for the Afghan war, are not happy with President Barack Obama's troop surge decision.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said lawmakers are concerned about the additional cost the troop surge would entail and that the United States could find itself in another Vietnam-like situation, Voice of America reported.

"Many members of my caucus, and I believe members of the Republican caucus, perhaps from different philosophical perspectives, will come to the same conclusion, that this is a mistake to move in the direction of this huge troop buildup."

The decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan also comes at a time of declining domestic support for the war, experts said.

"Generally, enthusiasm for the war in Afghanistan is waning, and support for the president's handling of it is dropping," Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown said, VOA said.

Republican opposition to the Afghan strategy, on the other hand, stems from Obama's plan to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan by July 2011.

"But when you tell your enemies that there is a date when you are going to start leaving, if that is what it is, it emboldens your enemies and dispirits your friends," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Other experts said the best way to build domestic support for the war is to achieve some success on the ground, but that would take time, VOA reported.

Pakistan attack kills two navy members

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A suicide bomb attack outside Pakistani naval headquarters in Islamabad killed two navy personnel, authorities said.

The attacker Wednesday was a teenager who blew himself up after being stopped by an official near the main gate of the complex, Pakistan's English-language newspaper Dawn reported. The attack also injured 10 others, including civilians and service personnel, the report said.

An official who tried to stop the attacker was one of those killed, and the other victim was a constable.

The complex is near the office of the World Food Program, where a similar attack in October killed five U.N. workers.

President Asif Ali Zardari's residence is also near the naval headquarters but the Pakistani leader apparently was not in danger.

Dawn quoted a witness as saying the attacker, believed to be 14 to 16 years old, appeared to be a foreigner, as he spoke in an unfamiliar language.

The incident is the latest in a series of such daring attacks on Pakistan's security installations. These have escalated since the Pakistani military launched its offensive in October against the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terror groups in the tribal regions of South Waziristan.

Blackwater founder tells of secret CIA aid

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The founder of Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. military contractor employed in Iraq and Afghanistan, says he helped secret CIA programs targeting al-Qaida.

Erik Prince, owner of the security company now known as Xe Services, told Vanity Fair in an interview he performed "very risky missions" for the spy agency while deflecting blame from the CIA if something went wrong.

"We were building a unilateral, unattributable capability," Prince was quoted as saying. "If it went bad, we weren't expecting ... anyone to bail us out."

Prince, a former SEAL, said he carried out secret missions as recently as two months ago when the Obama administration terminated his contract after media leaks revealed the operation, The Washington Post reported.

The magazine, granted rare access to Blackwater at facilities in the United States and Afghanistan, said Prince served a dual role for the CIA as both a contractor and spy who also ran intelligence-gathering operations.

Salahis refuse to testify before Congress

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The Virginia couple suspected of crashing a White House dinner for the prime minister of India "respectfully" refused to testify before a congressional panel.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi released a statement Wednesday saying they have cooperated in interviews with the Secret Service and members of Congress and have nothing more to add, ABC News reported.

"They therefore respectfully decline to testify," the statement said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the Committee on Homeland Security, said he had requested the couple appear before the committee Thursday.

"If the Salahis are absent from tomorrow's hearing, the committee is prepared to move forward with subpoenas to compel their appearance," Thompson said in a statement.

He said the Salahis could provide valuable information about how they "circumvented layers of security at the White House."

ABC said it obtained e-mails between the Salahis and Michele Jones, a Pentagon official who was trying to get them tickets to an outdoor ceremony to greet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was canceled because of bad weather, or to the dinner. Jones's final e-mail said she had not been successful.

The Salahis e-mailed Jones in the early morning after the dinner, saying they had gone to the White House gate to check and had discovered their names on the guest list.