President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach to Afghanistan but his European allies stopped short of offering long-term troop deployments for the war effort.

Leaders of the 28-nation military alliance pledged at a summit to send 3,000 more troops on short-term assignments to boost security for August 20 elections in Afghanistan, and some 2,000 more personnel to train Afghan security forces.

They also promised to send 300 paramilitary police trainers and provide $600 million to finance the Afghan army and civilian assistance, Obama said.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said allies were united in support for the strategy championed by Obama, who favors a regional approach to Afghanistan with a stepped-up civilian effort and training of Afghan security forces.

He said more than 10 countries announced new contributions.

"We will be supporting the elections; we will be improving training for the Afghan soldiers," he told a news conference. "Many allies have stepped up to the plate this morning and the concrete results of this summit are very, very good indeed."

Obama, who has sought to use his popularity in Europe to wring concessions from allies, said he was pleased by the pledges and that "a substantial step forward" had been taken.

But he added: "We will need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals."

Source: uk.reuters.com

President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach

U.S. President Barack Obama Outlines Nuclear Disarmament Plan

PRAGUE -- Under a hazy spring sky, before a swelling Czech crowd, U.S. President Barack Obama called for an international effort to lock down nuclear weapons materials within four years, one of a host of steps he said would move the globe to nuclear disarmament.

Speaking just hours after North Korea launched a controversial multistage rocket, the U.S. president took to the stage in Castle Square here, testifying "clearly and with conviction" to an audience of at least 20,000 of "America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."

"We have to insist, 'Yes, we can,'" he said, reprising a battle theme recognizable to a crowd a continent away from his campaign victory.

It was the first public, set-piece speech on the fifth day of his first major trip abroad, but the promise of renewed arms-control efforts may have been overshadowed by the reality of North Korea's launch. Mr. Obama said he would consult with Japan, South Korea and other Asian neighbors before seeking sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, which was to convene in New York Sunday afternoon for an emergency session.

"Rules must be minded. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something," the president told the crowd, calling the launch a provocative act that violated United Nations Security Council resolutions. "The world must stand together to stop the spread of these weapons."

Mr. Obama's European tour has become increasingly ambitious as he has proceeded eastward. He has vowed to help end the global recession and remake the world's financial architecture, ramp up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's war on Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan and now secure nuclear material and work toward "a nuclear-free world."

A foreign-policy agenda that grows fuller by the day comes on top of an already jam-packed domestic agenda that includes a national health plan, financial restructuring and rescue, a new alternative-energy economy and an aggressive federal intervention in education.

Specifically, Mr. Obama called for an international convention to draft a treaty abolishing the production of fissile materials that can be used to create nuclear weapons. An international "nuclear fuel bank" -- stocked in part by scrapped nuclear warheads -- could be accessed by nations seeking to develop and sustain peaceful nuclear-energy programs. That way, they wouldn't have to develop their own nuclear-enrichment programs.

He also called for new steps to secure existing nuclear materials and warheads, especially in Russia, before it leaches onto a black market where terrorists could acquire it. He vowed to lock down such weapons and materials within four years, calling for a global summit in the U.S. within a year.

Lamenting "the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War," Mr. Obama said, "In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up."

He reiterated the pledge he made Wednesday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to conclude a new bilateral treaty reducing the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals below the 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads agreed on in 2002. The treaty is to be concluded by the end of the year, with progress assessed at a July summit in Moscow.

He will also "immediately and aggressively pursue" Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, concluded by President Bill Clinton in 1996, then abandoned by President George W. Bush after a Republican-controlled Senate voted it down.

North Korea's missile launch put new urgency into the arms control agenda, Mr. Obama said before a morning meeting with the Czech leadership.

But it also threatened to overshadow the message. The White House received confirmation just after 4:30 a.m. Prague time. Shortly afterwards, staff woke the president up for consultations with Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Gates, National Security Adviser James Jones and his NSC staff.

The Prague speech was billed as a sober, serious policy address, but the White House disregarded the advice of some in the Czech government and opened it to the public on a large square behind the castle that overlooks what Mr. Obama called "this golden city, both ancient and youthful."

Rock music from the Obama campaign pulsated, while Czechs waved small American flags. A camera swept over the crowd on a boom that extended over the square, flanked by baroque government buildings. Mr. Obama ascended the stage with First Lady Michelle Obama to the symphonic strains of the Moldau, by Czech composer Bedric Smetna. Under a temperate April sky, he evoked the Prague Spring of 1968, when the city tried to rise up against communist oppression, and the Velvet Revolution of 1989, when the city finally and peacefully overcame communism.

A Jumbotron beaming his English speech in Czech was invisible to all but a few of the crowd, a fact that likely subdued the crowd.

The site was chosen carefully. Czechs have been deeply divided over the efforts by former President George W. Bush to deploy elements of an antimissile system in their country, a move Russia angrily opposes but which Washington insists is targeted as Teheran, not Moscow.

Applause rose up in only part of the crowd when Mr. Obama vowed to pursue the missile shield as long as Iran pursued its nuclear ambitions. Another part of the audience cheered when he suggested he could drop the effort if Iran is deemed no longer a threat.

White House aides said the Kremlin was one of the target audiences of the speech, but so were North Korea and Iran.

Ahead of a review conference next year of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Mr. Obama wants to take concrete steps to make good on the nuclear nations' side of the bargain in the treaty: In exchange for nonnuclear nations' promises to forgo nuclear weapons development, the nuclear club was supposed to work toward disarmament while aiding the spread of peaceful nuclear technology.

White House national security aides hope Mr. Obama's efforts will isolate Teheran and Pyongyang.

"We're trying to seize the moral high ground," said Gary Samore, White House coordinator for weapons of mass destruction, security and arms control.

Source:online.wsj.com

U.S. President Barack Obama Outlines Nuclear Disarmament Plan

President Obama went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday,Obama touts $3.6 trillion spending outline

President Obama went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to rally support among skeptical Senate Democrats for his $3.6 trillion spending plan, focusing attention on the core initiatives that unite the party while downplaying the issues that divide it.



Centrist Democrats who have complained that Obama's spending plan would drive the annual budget deficit to unacceptable levels held their tongues during the 45-minute lunchtime meeting. They asked no questions about deficits or about the administration's controversial push to force its signature investments in health care and education through the Senate without Republican votes.

Despite the meeting's friendly tone, tensions over those issues continued to simmer as budget leaders in both chambers worked on competing blueprints that would trim Obama's spending request and sharply curtail his plans for tax cuts - all in an effort to lower deficits over the next five years.

While acknowledging the adjustments to Obama's budget request, Democrats cheered the fact that budget leaders in both chambers would permit Obama's most ambitious and costly initiatives on health care, education and climate change to move forward as long as they do not interfere with deficit reduction.

Welcome unity

"There has to be some realism here," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "We're all unified on four main goals ... and that is not easy to do."

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag also claimed victory on the most significant aspects of the president's agenda.

"We are very pleased that the House and Senate budget committees are taking up resolutions that are fully in line with the president's key priorities," Orszag said. The blueprints under consideration "may not be identical twins to what the president submitted, but they are certainly brothers that look an awful lot alike."

In the House, Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., unveiled a spending plan that would slice more than $150 billion from Obama's proposal for the fiscal year that begins in October, reducing next year's deficit to $1.22 trillion, compared with $1.38 trillion under Obama's request. The House blueprint would cut the deficit to just under $600 billion by 2014, forcing the government to borrow $3.9 trillion over the next five years - about $500 billion less than Obama's proposal.

Much of the savings for next year would come by jettisoning Obama's plan to spend more on the Treasury Department's financial-sector bailout, a move that would reduce the deficit but would not prevent the president from seeking the cash.

Other trims

Spratt also rejected Obama's proposal to extend a tax break for businesses that lose money. And he trimmed $7 billion from a funding request for other government agencies, with the bulk of the reduction targeting international programs.

The House proposal would make bigger changes in future years, slicing another $60 billion from Obama's request for nondefense programs and rejecting the president's proposal to permanently exempt millions of middle-class families from the expensive alternative minimum tax.

Like the Senate, the House also scrapped Obama's plan to extend an $800 tax cut for working families that was temporarily enacted in the economic stimulus package.

The House and Senate budget committees expect to vote on their budget plans today and send them to their respective chambers for approval next week. Differences between the two chambers would then have to be resolved in a conference committee after the Easter break.

Obama would not have to sign the resulting resolution, which would not have the force of law. But it would set guidelines for lawmakers as they craft spending bills and draft legislation to implement Obama's policies.

Also Wednesday, Obama endorsed a fellow Democrat in a competitive special congressional election and was the main draw at two Democratic National Committee fundraisers.

"Sign up and pitch in to elect Scott Murphy to Congress," the president implored in an early morning e-mail to at least 50,000 people in New York's 20th Congressional District. Tying his agenda to the election's outcome, he added that electing Murphy would "make a big impact on my efforts to bring about a lasting economic recovery."

By evening, Obama headlined two fundraisers in Washington expected to bring in an estimated $3 million.



News Source : sfgate.com

President Obama went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday,Obama touts $3.6 trillion spending outline

Obama claims gains in fight against economic woes

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama claimed early progress Tuesday night in his aggressive campaign to lead the nation out of economic chaos and declared that despite obstacles ahead, "we're moving in the right direction." At the second prime-time news conference of his presidency, Obama also toned down his criticism of bonuses to executives at bailed-out AIG, and shot back at Republican critics of his budget. In office for 64 tumultuous days, Obama cast his budget — now under review in Congress — as essential if the economy is to recover. The tax and spending plan "is inseparable from this recovery because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity," he said. The president also defended the U.S. dollar in the wake of China's suggestion for a universal currency, saying: "The dollar is extraordinarily strong right now," and "I don't believe that there is a need for a global currency." The news conference, lasting 55 minutes, came at a pivotal, early moment in Obama's young presidency. Democrats in Congress are readying budget proposals that will largely determine how much of his first-term agenda will be passed, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is churning out near-daily proposals to solve the nation's economic crisis and the administration is struggling with public and congressional outrage over bonuses paid to executives of bailed-out AIG. Additionally, Obama departs next week for his first European trip as commander in chief, with the global economy a major focus. Flexible on some points, Obama was unyielding on others. Pressed on why he seemed to delay before condemning the AIG bonuses, Obama said, "It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak." The news conference was dominated by questions about the economy. Obama defended the steps his administration has taken to counter the recession and an unprecedented credit crisis. He said teachers and others have jobs today because of the economic stimulus measure that Congress passed, and the nation is "beginning to see signs of increased sales and stabilized housing prices for the first time in a long time." He said full-fledged recovery is months away, and he added, "It will take patience." At the same time, he said, "we're in a better place because of the decisions that we made." Obama put in a plug for the request Geithner made to Congress earlier in the day for extraordinary authority to take over failing companies like American International Group Inc., much as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. now does for banks. "It is precisely because of the lack of this authority" that AIG's problems threatened to bring down the entire U.S. economy, he said. Top Democrats in Congress reacted positively to the proposal, although it is not clear when legislation might be considered. Obama has been vocal in his unhappiness over the $165 million in retention bonuses paid to executives at AIG, although his favorable reference to business men and women seeking profits was a new twist. "Bankers and executives on Wall Street need to realize that enriching themselves on the taxpayers' dime is inexcusable, that the days of outsized rewards and reckless speculation that puts us all at risk have to be over," he said. "At the same time, the rest of us can't afford to demonize every investor or entrepreneur who seeks to make a profit. That drive is what has always fueled our prosperity, and it is what will ultimately get these banks lending and our economy moving once more," he said. On other issues, Obama: • Said the American people are assessing his ability as chief executive based on his skills and work, not the color of his skin. He said there was justifiable pride in January, when he was inaugurated as the first black president. • Strongly defended his proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy by reducing the value of the deductions they may take for items such as home mortgages or charitable donations. It's a "realistic way for us to raise some revenue from people who benefited enormously over the last several years. Its not going to cripple them. They will still be well-to-do," he said. • Called his decision to expand federal support of embryonic stem cell research the "right thing to do and the ethical thing to do." He said he wrestled with the ethics of the decision but is hopeful that the science will lead to help for people with debilitating diseases. • Said the recent elections in Israel would not make it easier to create a stable environment with side-by-side Israeli and Palestinian states. The president opened the news conference with a prepared statement read from a screen, turning the event's opening moments into a brief speech delivered to a nationwide TV audience in addition to the roomful of reporters. He said his administration was taking steps to make sure banks have money to lend "even if the economy gets worse." Obama said he did not feel the government should call on Americans to make sacrifices beyond those imposed by the recession and credit crisis. "Folks are sacrificing left and right ... across the board, people are making adjustments large and small," he said. Obama was quick with a retort when asked about Republican criticism of his budget, with its huge projected deficits. "First of all," he said he inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion from his predecessor. And secondly, he said the Republicans have yet to offer an alternative to his own tax and spending plan. Obama has emphasized a desire to cut projected deficits in half by the end of his current term, although recent estimates make it appear almost impossible barring an extraordinary series of events. Given concern in Congress over the red ink, Senate Democrats are drafting a separate budget plan that assumes Obama's proposed middle class tax cut expires after two years — the sort of sleight of hand that other administrations of both parties have used in the past. While Congress' budget does not go to the White House for a president's signature, the White House traditionally seeks to influence its provisions. Obama restated his objectives Tuesday night — health care overhaul, a new energy policy and more money for education and deficit control. Obama stepped to the microphone one day after his administration unveiled a plan to melt the credit freeze by helping banks shed bad loans. Under the proposal, the government will finance the purchase by private investors of as much as $1 trillion of the $2 trillion in bad assets still held by the nation's banks, in the hopes of freeing banks to begin lending more freely and churn up economic activity. On Wednesday, Obama is heading to Capitol Hill to lobby Senate Democrats. Before Obama's speech, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell emphasized Republican criticism of the president's proposed budget as an over-spending, over-taxing disaster. A Congressional Budget Office analysis released last Friday estimates Obama's budget would generate deficits totaling $9.3 trillion over the next decade "If these plans are carried out, we run the risk of looking like a Third World country," said McConnell, R-Ky. Obama's job approval rating is 63 percent, according to Gallup polling. That number has been relatively stable recently, down from the 68 percent when the president took office mostly on a loss of support among Republicans.

News Sources news.yahoo.com

Obama claims gains in fight against economic woes