Intel reports blame Pakistan for limited success in Afghan war: NYT

Two new classified intelligence reports on the war in Afghanistan say there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents operating from havens on its Afghan border. PHOTO: FILE/REUTERS

WASHINGTON:?Two new classified intelligence reports on the war in Afghanistan say there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents operating from havens on its Afghan border, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The National Intelligence Estimates offer a more negative assessment than a review of the US war strategy that the Obama administration is set to unveil on Thursday.

The intelligence reports – one on Afghanistan and one on Pakistan – say that although there has been progress in the war, Pakistan’s unwillingness to shut down militant sanctuaries in its tribal region remains a serious obstacle, The New York Times reported.

The White House said on Tuesday that the war strategy review has determined that a troop increase led to important progress in the nine-year-old war which may permit some US soldiers to withdraw from Afghanistan next July.

Obama ordered 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan a year ago with the goal of turning the tide against a resurgent Taliban.

The Times said the findings of the intelligence community were provided to some members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees last week and were described by a number of US officials who read the executive summaries.

US military commanders and senior Pentagon officials have already criticised the reports as out of date and written by Washington analysts who have spent little time in the war zone, the newspaper said.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

View the original article here

On Deck Next Week: Wal-Mart Reports

• November 12, 2010, 6:11 PM ET

By Kathy Shwiff

Everett

• Dow Jones Industrial Average components Wal-Mart and Home Depot Inc. and nearly two dozen other companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will report quarterly results next week. Wal-Mart and Home Depot both report Tuesday, a day after Nordstrom Inc. and Lowe’s Cos. Target Corp. will post results Wednesday, followed by Gap Inc. and Sears Holding Corp. on Thursday.
• General Motors is expected to price its initial public offering of 365 million shares Wednesday evening. The estimated price range is $26 to $29. The IPO allows the U.S. to begin offloading the stake it acquired through last year’s rescue of the auto industry. GM will have about 1.5 billion shares outstanding afterward, and the Treasury Department’s stake will fall to as little as 41% from the current 61%.
• Measures of wholesale and consumer inflation likely rose for October, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com. The Producer Price Index, to be released Tuesday, and Consumer Price Index, out Wednesday, are expected to rise 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively. For September, the PPI grew 0.4% and the CPI ticked up 0.1%.
• The government will report on October retail sales and September business inventories Monday and will release October industrial-production figures Tuesday. Data on October housing starts and building permits will be issued Wednesday.
• On Thursday, the nonprofit Conference Board will release its October index of leading indicators and the Philadelphia Fed will report on regional manufacturing activities.
• Among appearances by Federal Reserve officials: Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker will speak Sunday; Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is on tap Tuesday; St. Louis Fed President James Bullard will speak Wednesday; Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota appears Thursday in Chicago; Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser will speak Thursday in Washington; and Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak next Friday at the 6th European Central Bank Banking Conference in Frankfurt.
• President Obama has invited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and other congressional leaders to the White House on Thursday to talk about Bush-era tax cuts and other issues. Even though Republicans chalked up big gains during the midterm elections, those new members won’t be sworn in until January, and Democrats will still control both chambers of Congress until then. Obama will need support from at least a few Senate Republicans to pass any bill related during the lame-duck session, giving McConnell a direct say on what any deal might look like, especially regarding taxes.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

View the original article here

On Deck Next Week: Wal-Mart Reports

• November 12, 2010, 6:11 PM ET

By Kathy Shwiff

Everett

• Dow Jones Industrial Average components Wal-Mart and Home Depot Inc. and nearly two dozen other companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will report quarterly results next week. Wal-Mart and Home Depot both report Tuesday, a day after Nordstrom Inc. and Lowe’s Cos. Target Corp. will post results Wednesday, followed by Gap Inc. and Sears Holding Corp. on Thursday.
• General Motors is expected to price its initial public offering of 365 million shares Wednesday evening. The estimated price range is $26 to $29. The IPO allows the U.S. to begin offloading the stake it acquired through last year’s rescue of the auto industry. GM will have about 1.5 billion shares outstanding afterward, and the Treasury Department’s stake will fall to as little as 41% from the current 61%.
• Measures of wholesale and consumer inflation likely rose for October, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com. The Producer Price Index, to be released Tuesday, and Consumer Price Index, out Wednesday, are expected to rise 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively. For September, the PPI grew 0.4% and the CPI ticked up 0.1%.
• The government will report on October retail sales and September business inventories Monday and will release October industrial-production figures Tuesday. Data on October housing starts and building permits will be issued Wednesday.
• On Thursday, the nonprofit Conference Board will release its October index of leading indicators and the Philadelphia Fed will report on regional manufacturing activities.
• Among appearances by Federal Reserve officials: Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker will speak Sunday; Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is on tap Tuesday; St. Louis Fed President James Bullard will speak Wednesday; Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota appears Thursday in Chicago; Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser will speak Thursday in Washington; and Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak next Friday at the 6th European Central Bank Banking Conference in Frankfurt.
• President Obama has invited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and other congressional leaders to the White House on Thursday to talk about Bush-era tax cuts and other issues. Even though Republicans chalked up big gains during the midterm elections, those new members won’t be sworn in until January, and Democrats will still control both chambers of Congress until then. Obama will need support from at least a few Senate Republicans to pass any bill related during the lame-duck session, giving McConnell a direct say on what any deal might look like, especially regarding taxes.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php
Five Filters featured article: Beyond Hiroshima - The Non-Reporting of Falluja's Cancer Catastrophe.

View the original article here