Think Progress

AFGHANISTAN -- TOP MILITARY OFFICIAL SAYS 'WE DON'T HAVE' AN END GAME IN AFGHANISTAN: President Obama is finalizing a plan to send tens of thousands of more American troops to Afghanistan as "part of a push to beat back the resurgent Taliban and secure regions of Afghanistan that are beyond the reach of the weak central government in Kabul." However, NBC military correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reports that according to military officials, during a meeting last week at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "the president specifically asked, 'What is the end game?' in the U.S. military's strategy for Afghanistan." "When asked what the answer was, one military official told NBC News, 'Frankly, we don't have one.' But they're working on it." The New York Times reported recently that even Obama's "military planners prepare for the first wave of the new Afghanistan 'surge,' there is growing debate, including among those who agree with the plan to send more troops, about whether -- or how -- the troops can accomplish their mission, and just what the mission is."

ENVIRONMENT -- SECRETARY CHU TELLS AMERICA TO 'WAKE UP' TO THE REALITIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE: In his first interview as Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu "offered some of the starkest comments yet on how seriously President Obama's cabinet views the threat of climate change." Chu told the Los Angeles Times that the nation is like "a family buying an old house and being told by an inspector that it must pay a hefty sum to rewire it or risk an electrical fire that could burn everything down." "I'm hoping that the American people will wake up," he continued. Chu also worried the nation doesn't yet recognize how great a threat global warming represents, saying, "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen." One danger Chu highlighted in the interview was more frequent drought throughout the West, with major declines in the snowpack that waters California. In the worst case, Chu explained, "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California. I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going." Chu described "public education as a key part of the administration's strategy to fight global warming" -- in addition to clean energy research, infrastructure, a national renewable electricity standard, and a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system. Perhaps proving his point that Americans have yet to "wake up," right-wing climate-change-denial bloggers retort that the Nobel Prize-winning quantum physicist and energy expert can't be believed because he "isn't a climate scientist."

JUSTICE -- U.S. THREATENS TO WITHHOLD INTELLIGENCE FROM BRITAIN IF EVIDENCE ON SUSPECTED TERROR SUSPECT IS RELEASED:  Two senior judges in Great Britain yesterday accused the United States of attempting to cover-up evidence of the torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed. Mohamed, an Ethiopian national who resides in Britain, was arrested in 2002 because of his suspected ties to al-Qaeda. He alleges that, after his arrest, he was tortured by the Bush administration in a variety of ghost prisons, ending up at Guantanamo. But the detainee's descriptions of his torture were redacted. The British government claims that the U.S. "threatened" the British with "repercussions if details of the case were made public." "We did not consider that a democracy governed by the rule of law would expect a court in another democracy to suppress a summary of the evidence" of torture, the justices wrote in the opinion. The justices also called on President Obama to reconsider the U.S. position because it is "so important to the rule of law, free speech and democratic accountability." The ACLU on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking her to comment on the Obama administration's position on Mohamed as well as Obama's pledge to reject the Bush administration's claims of "national security to avoid judicial review of controversial programs."

Yesterday, the Obama administration "canceled 77 leases its predecessor sold to oil and gas companies that wanted to explore beneath the red rock country of Utah, the first of several expected steps to reverse the Bush administration's Western legacy." Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the U.S. needs to be independent from foreign oil, but added that "we need to do so in a thoughtful and respectful way." 

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) said yesterday that he will introduce the Employee Free Choice Act "soon." Miller said that the bill will be "unveiled in a matter of days or weeks." Though Miller couldn’t say how many co-sponsors he has on the bill, he said that the process is "going very well." 

"This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education," President Obama writes on the economic recovery plan in the Washington Post today. "Every day, our economy gets sicker -- and the time for a remedy that puts Americans back to work, jump-starts our economy and invests in lasting growth is now."

Incoming Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is "launching a top-down review of his embattled department” in order to ensure "highest levels of integrity, transparency and performance."

Robert Sussman of the Center for American Progress is returning to the Environmental Protection Agency to become senior policy counsel to Administrator Lisa Jackson, "advising her on climate and environmental issues across the agency." In the past, Sussman has blogged on the Wonk Room.

Americans "are waiting longer than they should for unemployment benefits at a time when they need the money the most because rising joblessness is overwhelming claims offices, records show." The problem is compounded by cuts in federal funding and, with jobless claims up by 35,000 from last week, the problem will likely get worse.

A new study tracking 9/11 responders who "became ill after working at the World Trade Center site found many had lung problems more than five years later." The researchers said the results prove that "toxic dust" resulting from the collapse of the Twin Towers caused "long-term" and "persistent" illnesses.

And finally: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) "was the star at last night's annual congressional press dinner." Noting the potential takeover of the New York Times by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, Klobuchar quipped that “this could be the first time Lou Dobbs tries to deport an entire newspaper," Klobuchar added. "So much for Democrats being against torture," joking about the Purple Tunnel of Doom Inauguration Day debacle.