Daily Photo: Obama Jokes Around at G-20

April 02, 2009 3:45 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: There was at least one lighter moment as President Obama joined other world leaders for the G20 meeting in London this week to address the worldwide financial crisis.

In the photo below, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gives a big thumbs-up as he drapes his arms around President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

What caught our eye was not only Berlusconi's big grin, but seeing the American and Russian presidents joking around together. Earlier in the week, the former Cold War adversaries agreed to a continue reducing their nuclear arsenals.


G20 leaders (first row from left to right) include: Saudi King  Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, (second row from left to right) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Thai Prime Minister and chair of the Association of  Southeast Asian Nations Abhisit Vejjajiva, U.S. President Barack Obama, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and New Partnership for Africa's Development Meles Zenawi. World leaders meet Thursday for the G-20 summit aimed at fixing the crisis-wracked global economy.

(FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

April 2, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (36)

Blackwater gets replaced in Iraq

April 01, 2009 3:22 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports:

The controversial private security firm Blackwater's contracts in Iraq have been replaced by Virginia-based Triple Canopy, the State Department said today.

"[On] March the 31st the department awarded Triple Canopy the ground task order for protective security details in Baghdad after a thorough evaluation of proposals from each company that had submitted bids," State Department acting deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid said.

Duguid said the transition process will begin immediately and Blackwater, now rebranded as Xe (pronounced "Zee"), will leave Iraq once its contract expires in May. He could not provide the value and length of Triple Canopy's contract.

Earlier this year the Iraqi government expelled Blackwater in large part due to controversy surrounding the deadly September 2007 shooting in a crowded Baghdad traffic circle during which Blackwater guards allegedly killed several Iraqi civilians. Following the Iraqi decision to expel Blackwater, the State Department said it would not renew their contract.

Triple Canopy and a third Company, Dyncorp, have been providing similar security in Iraq, mainly in the north and south, for years while Blackwater mainly held contracts in Baghdad.

No replacement has yet been named for air assets including helicopters that Blackwater provided through its subsidiary Presidential Airways. Xe has been notified by the State Department that this contract will not be renewed given the Iraqi government's decision, Duguid said.

April 1, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (3)

Daily Photo: U.S. Marines Look Out for Taliban in Afghanistan

March 31, 2009 3:57 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: The situation in Afghanistan has been bad for years, and all indications are the battle will get even more bloody as additional U.S. troops pour into the country this year while the Obama administration seeks an upper hand against Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents there.

The destroyed building in the photo below is located in a town where air strikes killed Taliban commanders earlier this month.


U.S. Marines keep watch as fellow Marines search for Taliban arms caches on March 31, 2009 in the abandoned town of Now Zad in Afghanistan's Helmand province. Marines from Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, have been fighting Taliban insurgents, whose frontline position is just over a mile away from their base.
(John Moore/Getty Images)

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague, where she asked countries to provide more help for the troubled country.

With the U.S. providing additional combat troops for Afghanistan, Clinton urged countries to provide civilian experts who can help improve governance, economic, and agricultural conditions throughout the country.

Iran also attended the conference as one of Afghanistan's neighbors. A top U.S. diplomat, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, met briefly with the head of the Iranian delegation for what Clinton described as a "cordial" and "unplanned" but not "substantive" meeting -- the first face-to-face encounter between the Obama administration and the Iranian government.

"They agreed to stay in touch," Clinton told reporters.

March 31, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Hillary Clinton the Tomboy and Her "Ah-Ha" Moment

March 30, 2009 7:32 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports:

In an appearance at the Women's Museum in Dallas on Friday, a transcript of which was released over the weekend, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke candidly about the challenges she faced in breaking the glass ceiling, and referenced her run for the presidency last year.

Clinton revealed that she was "sort of a tomboy" when she was a young girl. "I did love to play sports and played with a lot of the boys in my neighborhood," she said. She said the experience instilled a thirst for competition that served her well later.

"I wanted to be a baseball player," she told an amused audience. "I wanted to be a journalist. I know you’ll never believe that."

Clinton the story about her aspirations to be an astronaut, one of her earliest encounters with the glass ceiling.

"I think I was thirteen or so, and so I wrote to NASA to ask how I could become an astronaut. And I got a response back which was, 'We’re not interested in women astronauts,'" she said.

She spoke of the obstacles she faced in pursuing her professional and academic goals.

"When we were growing up, there were just so many overt and implied obstacles to what young women could aspire to. There were certainly schools you couldn’t go to, scholarships you couldn’t apply for - jobs that were not available to you," Clinton said.

"You really have to prepare. And you have to get knocked down, and you have to pick yourself up, and you have to keep going," she added later.

Clinton referenced her lost bid for the Democratic nomination last year. When asked about an "ah-ha" moment that she was going to be able to meet the lofty goals she'd set for herself, Clinton said there was another "ah-ha" moment of another manner.

"I had an ah-ha moment that I wasn’t going to be the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States," she said as the audience laughed (according to the transcript). "That’s a kind of different ah-ha moment."

March 30, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (23)

Obama Administration Sudan Envoy Headed to Region

March 30, 2009 6:26 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports:

The Obama administration's new envoy for Sudan, retired Air Force Major General Scott Gration, will depart on his first official trip to the region tomorrow. He's expected to make stops in Khartoum, the capital, and in Darfur.

Today Gration met at the White House with President Obama and representatives from Darfur advocacy groups.

Advocacy groups appeared to like what they heard.

"The coalition was reassured to hear the Obama administration’s commitment to bring peace to Sudan," Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler said in a statement after the meeting.

Gration's visit comes as tensions have increased between Washington and Khartoum over President Omar al-Bashir's decision to expel major foreign aid groups from the country after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for crimes in Darfur.

"During his trip to Sudan this week, it is critical that Special Envoy Gration convey to the Sudanese government that they now face a fundamental choice as a direct result of President Bashir’s actions," Fowler added. He urged Gration to visit other countries to enlist their support.

In an interview with ABC News, Fowler said his group "underscored a sense of urgency" during the meeting with Obama and Gration.

"The initiative has to be siezed," he said.

Aid groups have warned that the decision could spawn a humanitarian disaster as many in the troubled region depend on foreign aid for survival. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Bashir would be considered responsible for every death that is caused by the expulsion.

Bashir has so far thumbed his nose at an ICC warrant, making several high profile trips abroad where he has been embraced by foreign leaders. So far he's been warmly received in Eritrea, Egypt, and now at the Arab League summit in Qatar.

The US has been carefully not to explicitly endorse the ICC warrant, since the US does not recognize its authority, but has called for those responsible for genocide in Darfur to be held accountable.

During the campaign last year President Obama pledged to devote his efforts to resolving the crisis in Darfur.

Asked if President Obama was fulfilling those promises, Fowler told ABC News it was too soon to tell, but that early signs were encouraging.

"The appointment of a full-time envoy, one that he's got a close relationship with and confidence in is an important step but an early step," he said

March 30, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

Daily Photo: Potential Flashpoint in Iraq

March 30, 2009 5:35 PM

ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: Something to keep an eye on in Iraq, the increasingly disgruntled Sons of Iraq or Awakening Councils and their reaction to what they perceive as ongoing efforts by the Maliki government to disband their ranks. 

A violent flareup in Baghdad this weekend served as a reminder of how fragile the security gains remain in Iraq and how a rift between the Shiite government and the Sunni groups could once again fuel sectarian tensions at a time when American forces are drawing down.   

American commanders believe the Awakening Councils were instrumental in turning the tide against Sunni insurgents and concerns have been raised that  these former insurgents could return to the fight if they feel threatened by the government.

Iraqi army special forces patrol Baghdad's al-Fadel district on March 30, 2009.
(ALI YUSSEF/AFP/Getty Images)

Today, the U.S. military in Iraq reassured Sunni leaders that they still had American support after fears were raised of an Iraqi government crackdown following the arrest of a local Sons of Iraq leader in Baghdad accused of running a deadly extortion racket.  His arrest and the disarming of his followers by Iraqi security forces was perceived by other Sons of Iraq leaders as a move by the government of Prime Minister Maliki to disband the group.  This weekend's violence was the worst in Baghdad in almost a year and on Monday, a Sons of Iraq leader in the restive Diyala province, north of the city, threatened to stop security cooperation with U.S. and Iraqi forces if the jailed leader was not freed.

Iraqi authorities have denied plans to disband of the Awakening Councils or Sons of Iraq though they have been slow in keeping pledges to integrate a small number of them into the Iraqi security forces and give state jobs or vocational training to the rest.  Last October, the Iraqi government assumed responsibility from the US for paying the the 90,000 members who belong to the Sons of Iraq, but some of the groups claim they have gone three months without being paid. 
 

March 30, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (3)

Clinton Says New Afghanistan-Pakistan Plan Depends on Diplomacy

March 28, 2009 5:00 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia reports: ABC News has obtained an internal message from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) personnel worldwide, in which she said diplomacy will be the key to success of the Obama administration's new Afghanistan-Pakistan plan.

In the cable to diplomats and employees late Friday after the administration rolled out its new plan for the troubled region, Clinton wrote:

"As the president made clear, meeting our core goal requires that we use all elements of our national power -- diplomatic, development, military, economic and informational. That's why I am writing you today. Because whether this strategy succeeds or not depends in large part on all of us at the Department of State and USAID."

More than the additional military trainers President Obama announced Friday, Clinton said diplomatic efforts will determine whether or not the plan succeeds.

"The major shift in this strategy is to emphasize our diplomatic and civilian efforts to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over three-quarters of the specific recommendations outlined in the strategic review are the responsibility of the State Department or USAID. That means more civilian expertise working on the ground; it means pursuing greater regional diplomacy; and it means sustained high-level attention and focus in Washington," she wrote.

Clinton also said she'll make an appeal for allies and neighbors to assist in the effort when she attends the international Afghanistan conference on Tuesday at The Hague.

"We will be asking all countries who have a stake in the future of this critical region to do their part," she wrote.

"Given the nature of the challenge we face, it is appropriate that our responsibilities are greater than before. The expectations are high; but we can meet them. In the weeks and months ahead, I ask for all of your ideas, talent, creativity, hard work and sacrifice to help make this new strategy succeed. The ability of the Afghan and Pakistani people to build peaceful and prosperous lives -- and the future national security of the United States -- requires nothing less," she concluded.

Clinton said the redoubled effort will require stricter oversight of the increased foreign aid it calls for.

"This new strategy makes clear that we must implement significant changes in the management, resources, and focus of our foreign assistance," she wrote.

"Implementing our strategy will be among the highest priorities for me and my leadership team," Clinton wrote.

She said the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, will be the point-man for "all our civilian activities in this effort."

March 28, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (9)

Exclusive: Three Israeli Airstrikes Against Sudan

March 27, 2009 7:47 PM

ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: Israel has conducted three military strikes against targets in Sudan since January in an effort to prevent what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments from reaching Hamas in the Gaza Strip, ABC News has learned.

Earlier this week, CBSNews.com was the first to report that Israel had conducted an airstrike in January against a convoy carrying weapons north into Egypt to be smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

But actually, since January, Israel has conducted a total of three military strikes against smugglers transporting what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments  destined  for Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News. 

The information matches recent reports from Sudanese officials of two airstrikes in the desert of eastern Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea carrying weapons.

Jonathan Peled, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, would only say, "No comment," when contacted by ABC News on the matter.

Sudanese officials initially said this week that 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed in a mid-January airstrike conducted by an unidentified aircraft  in a desert area north of the Red Sea port of  Port Sudan.

Today, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry representative said there were two separate bombing raids against smugglers in January and February.  The Sudanese minister for highways was more specific, saying the airstrikes took place Jan. 27 and Feb. 11.

Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera also reported today a Sudanese official's claim that Israel had sunk a ship carrying weapons.

Israeli officials continue to refuse to confirm or deny the reports of airstrikes, but Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, “Israel hits every place it can in order to stop terror, near and far."

In January, the United States signed an agreement with Israel to stop arms smuggling into Gaza.  At the time, Israel was conducting a military operation in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas' firing of  rockets on Israeli towns.   

Shortly after the agreement was signed, the U.S. Navy twice boarded a Cypriot ship in the Red Sea that was traveling  from Iran to Syria and believed to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Hamas.

After the boardings were inconclusive, the United States asked Egypt and Cyprus to search the vessel when it made ports of call.  Cypriot authorities ultimately found material that could be used to manufacture munitions, which they described as a violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports.

March 27, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (112)

Additional 4,000 Troops to Be Ordered to Afghanistan

March 26, 2009 10:14 PM

ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: As part of the Obama administration's Afghan strategy review to be unveiled on Friday, an additional 4,000 troops will be ordered to Afghanistan to help train the Afghan army and police, defense officials tell ABC News.

While the troop announcement may be it for this year, it's possible that even more troops will be headed to Afghanistan in 2010.

Last week, a senior administration official told ABC News' Martha Raddatz that by the end of August the total U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan will stand at 64,000.  This official added that it was unlikely any more troops would be sent to Afghanistan this year beyond the additional trainers to be announced Friday.  There are currently 38,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

However, it's possible that the troop strength in Afghanistan could rise even higher next year, possibly to as many as 70,000 U.S. troops, as the Pentagon meets additional troop requests from military commanders in Afghanistan, another defense official said today.

That includes an additional combat brigade that top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, would like to employ in southern Afghanistan and possibly more trainers needed to train a planned doubling of the Afghan army's size.  Both the combat troops and trainers would require additional support troops known as "enablers." 

The 4,000 trainers are in addition to the 17,000 troops that President Obama announced in February he was sending to Afghanistan this spring and summer.  They will come from a combat brigade the Pentagon had slated in the original request for extra troops made by McKiernan. However, they were not included in February's announcement for additional troops.   At the time, the White House said any further troop deployments would depend on the results of the Afghanistan strategy review.

The deployment of the training brigade meets a long-standing request for 4,000 trainers to help the Afghan army and police, that Pentagon officials had hoped would be met by NATO countries.

However, the need for more trainers may grow next year with the planned doubling of the Afghan army's size, so it's possible that more trainers might be needed beyond  those to be announced Friday.

If that's the case, there will be a need for more enabler troops to support those extra trainers.

March 26, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (20)

Daily Photo: Navy Submarine Trains in the Arctic

March 26, 2009 4:26 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: Here's a preview of an exciting story you'll see soon, exclusively on ABC News' 'World News With Charles Gibson'.

ABC News correspondent David Kerley will report from aboard a US Navy submarine in the Arctic Circle that is participating in Ice Exercise, a training mission in the harsh Arctic environment. In the image below, we see the Navy submarine that has surfaced by busting through the ice.


(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tiffini M. Jones/AP)

March 21, 2009 -- The Los Angeles-class submarine USS Annapolis is on the surface of the Arctic Ocean after breaking through three feet of ice during Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2009. Annapolis and the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Helena are participating in ICEX 2009. With the support from the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, ICEX 2009 enables the Submarine Force to operate and train in the challenging and unique environment that characterizes the Arctic region.

March 26, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (9)