Sunday Agenda: Report on bin Laden comes on eve of Obama's Afghan strategy speech

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 MORNING HEADLINES Senate report: Bin Laden was 'within our grasp' (Associated Press) Osama bin Laden was within reach of the American military in the Tora Bora mountains in December 2001, according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee report (pdf). But true to the Afghan strategy of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush, only 100 American soldiers were sent in support of Afghan militia, who were given the opportunity to take the lead in the mountain search, the report outlines. Newly deployed Marines to target Taliban bastion (Washington Post) The Washington Post reports that just days after President Obama is expected to announce Tuesday the implementation of around 30,000 additional troops in Afghanistan, 9,000 soldiers will begin to deploy to problematic southern regions of Afghanistan, doubling the size of U.S. forces in the southern province of Helmand. Obama 'realism' faces Afghan test (Politico) Human rights issues have become an emerging selling point for Obama and supporters of his escalation in Afghanistan. Politico's Ben Smith: "... some allies are urging him to return to a line of argument little heard since the Bush years: that the United States has a moral obligation to protect the Afghan people, particularly women, from the Taliban." U.S. Will Push Mortgage Firms to Reduce More Loan Payments (New York Times) The Obama administration will reportedly increase pressure on banks to open more lines of relief for beseiged homeowners. Supreme Court to take up anti-corruption law (Los Angeles Times) In coming weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the ban on "honest services fraud," a tool "used to prosecute public officials who accept money, free tickets, or jobs for relatives when bribery cannot be proved," the Los Angeles Times reports. TALK SHOWS Guests to be interviewed Sunday on major television talk shows (all times ET): State of the Union (CNN) 9:00 Sens. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.); Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.); and former British prime minister Tony Blair. Fox News Sunday 9:00 Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.); former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R); Howard Dean, former Democratic National Committee chairman; and Maj. Gen. Carla Hawley-Bowland, commander, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This Week (ABC) 10:00 Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.). Newsmakers (C-SPAN) 10:00 Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. Face the Nation (CBS) 10:30 Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.); former House majority leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.); Dede Scozzafava, former Republican candidate in New York's 23rd Congressional District; Ed Gillespie, Bush White House counselor. Meet the Press (NBC) 10:30 Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California. Washington Watch (TV One) 11:30 Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Maxine Walters (D-Calif.); NAACP President and Chief Executive Benjamin Jealous; and Ron Walters, professor emeritus, University of Maryland. CONTACT US | ADVERTISE | UNSUBSCRIBE | PRIVACY POLICY | NEWSLETTER CENTER

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