|
(Continued from page 23)
subject to strict supervision of a secret court, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says they do not target U.S. citizens.
• ___
Column: For Obama, failing to deliver on big political promises threatens to erode trust
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- As a candidate, Barack Obama vowed to bring a different, better kind of leadership to the dysfunctional capital. He'd make government more efficient, accountable and transparent. He'd rise above the "small-ball" nature of doing business. And he'd work with Republicans to break Washington paralysis.
• You can trust me, Obama said back in 2008. And -- for a while, at least -- a good piece of the country did.
• But with big promises often come big failures -- and the potential for big hits to the one thing that can make or break a presidency: credibility.
• A series of mounting controversies is exposing both the risks of political promise-making and the limits of national-level governing while undercutting the core assurance Obama made from the outset: that he and his administration would behave differently.
• The latest: the government's acknowledgement that, in a holdover from the Bush administration and with a bipartisan Congress' approval and a secret court's authorization, it was siphoning the phone records of millions of American citizens in a massive data-collection effort officials say was meant to protect the nation from terrorism. This came after the disclosure that the government was snooping on journalists.
• ___
Afghan Taliban attack near Kabul airport; 2 civilians wounded, all 7 attackers killed
• KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Seven heavily armed Taliban fighters launched a pre-dawn attack near Afghanistan's main airport Monday, apparently targeting NATO's airport headquarters with rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and at least one large bomb. Two Afghan civilians were wounded and all the attackers were killed after an hours-long battle.
• It was one of three attacks on state facilities in the morning by insurgents around the country.
• Another six militants wearing suicide bomb vests tried to storm the provincial council building in the capital of southern Zabul province, while three attempted to (Continued on page 25)
|
|
