EXECUTIVE WATCH

The Obama administration decided to scrap the Bush administration’s plans for missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave more information about the season in a press conference, implicitly rebuking those who claimed this was more about politics than defense.  The New York Times put together a selection of responses to the news.  John Noonan reinforces the point that the old system was about future capabilities, not about present threats.  Nathan Hodge is one of several who points out that announcing this decision on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland was not the most politically astute move.  And Thomas Joscelyn follows up on the “updated intelligence” reports that led to the decision.

Last week, we noted that the Obama administration was putting in new procedures at Bagram AFB allowing detainees to challenge their detention.  As more details have emerged, however, reaction to this development seems to have shifted.  Spencer Ackerman, Glenn Greenwald, and Alex Knapp all weigh in with some variation of “this replicates Guantanamo at Bagram.”  Ackerman has the best quote: David Remes from Appeal for Justice says that the administration is replicating the Combatant Status Review Tribunals with the new order.  Greenwald points out that these new guidelines were issued one day before the DoJ appealed a ruling (.pdf) that interpreted Boumediene to extend habeas corpus rights to Bagram detainees.

The Obama administration delivered to Congress a document that, it says, lays out metrics to determine victory in Afghanistan.  Foreign Policy managed to acquire and post the entire document.  Spencer Ackerman offers the Cliffs Notes version.  Early reaction seems almost entirely negative, because the “metrics” read more like mission statements than measurable goals.  The Economist has the most disgusted reaction, saying that the document is disappointing and confusing.  Dave Schuler is also unimpressed, calling it a “wishlist” instead of a strategy.  Fred Kagan defends, if not the metrics themselves, at least the thinking behind them.

The Obama administration proposed the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), engendering pushback from several interest groups.  The CFPA would regulate businesses that extend credit to consumers in a wide range of products, including credit cards and mortgages.  Joshua Wright and Todd Zywicki have an essay up that argues that the CFPA is a knee-jerk response to the financial crisis that fundamentally misunderstands what led to the breakdown in financial markets.  Their key argument is that the problem was not the consumers but rather the lenders.  Ilya Somin piles on, arguing that the agency will lead to less (or less effective) consumer protection.  Obama advisor Larry Summers has fired back, accusing business groups of using “scare tactics” like the infamous “death panels” used against health-care reform.  Meanwhile, Judge Jed Rakoff angrily disapproved of a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America that, he said, would allow both of those organizations to profit by BofA’s wrongdoing at shareholders’ expense.

Several provisions of the PATRIOT Act are up for renewal, and several Democratic senators are promising to fight for expanded protection of civil liberties.  Julian Sanchez, who wants reform of the PATRIOT Act, has the full text of proposed changes here (.pdf).

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President Obama gave a speech outlining his new health-care reform proposal.  The highlight of the evening, at least for reporters, was Rep. Joe Louis shouting “You lie!” at the president after Obama stated that illegal aliens would not be covered.  Reaction was immediate and Louis apologized the next day.  Despite some claims, heckling the president is not unprecedented.  James Joyner defends Louis, saying that the Democrats’ plan will wind up covering illegal aliens, even if it is not explicitly supposed to do so.  Alex Massie is uninterested in health care, but the British writer is fascinated by a country that staged a revolution to overthrow a king, only to demand that everyone treat the president like a monarch.  Relatedly, Obama is offering to put tort reform into the health-care bill, though he would use a former trial lawyer lobbyist to do so.

President Obama imposed a thirty-five percent tariff on tire imports from China.  He did so under a section of the law that allows the President to unilaterally impose tariffs to prevent “surges” of foreign goods.  The Financial Times reports that China is already threatening to escalate the incident into a trade war by slapping tariffs on U.S. poultry and cars.

The men who attempted to blow airliners up with liquid explosives were convicted in the U.K.  Channel 4 reports that they were caught using NSA wiretaps.  Glenn Greenwald notes, however, that those wiretaps were authorized by the FISA.

Saturday saw the largest rally yet against President Obama.  The number of protesters is still unknown; most sources report 1-1.5 million people attended; outliers range from 2 million to 60,000.  One thing most observers agree on is that there was no unifying theme to the protesters aside from their dislike of Obama’s policies.

The U.S. invaded Somalia.  Again.

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The CIA has asked the Department of Justice to start an investigation into the leak about the CIA’s assassination program.  Also, interestingly, the head of Xe (formerly Blackwater) has been placed on al-Qaeda’s “most wanted” list.

Stuart Holder argues that John Durham’s probe of CIA interrogations is political theater.  Holder argues that the investigation meets the U.S. requirements under the UN Convention Against Torture, but that actual prosecutions would be “political suicide.”  The Economist argues that the U.S. is always just one terror attack away from becoming Dick Cheney.

President Obama plans to give a speech to schoolchildren next week.  Some critics are urging their readers to keep their children home from school; some school districts have cancelled their planned broadcast of the speech.  Jim Lindgren says that the speech itself is not unprecedented and provides the text of George H.W. Bush’s 1991 speech to schoolchildren.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington declared victory by settling their lawsuits with the White House.  The White House will give up visitors’ logs and agrees to continue to post the logs online.

The Obama administration refused to release further information about interrogation practices, saying that, as intelligence “sources and methods,” they do not have to be disclosed, even in court.

The State Department fired its private security in Kabul, managed by Armor Group, after photos and documents emerged detailing lewd and abusive behavior by the guards.  The Project on Government Oversight called it a “Lord of the Flies environment.”  Nathan Hodge (warning: NSFW pic at link) points out that the contractors that have found themselves in trouble are usually employed by the State Department, not the Pentagon.  If you want to see the offending pictures, you may do so here (nudity and lewd behavior depicted).

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Former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge reveals, in a forthcoming book, that he was pressured by the White House to raise the Threat Level Advisory (the color code) in order to influence the 2004 election.  Calling it an “intersection of politics, fear, credibility, and security,” Ridge explains that the episode led to his resignation.  Former Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend denied the allegation.  Ridge first made these allegations in 2005;   Ridge also claims that he never attended National Security Council meetings and that the White House thwarted his plan to reorganize FEMA prior to Katrina.  Caleb Howe takes a skeptical look at the claims and comes away wondering if this isn’t just effective marketing by Ridge’s publisher.

Scotland released Libyan agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of the 1983 Lockerbie bombing.  Al-Megrahi suffers from terminal prostate cancer.  The U.S. lobbied against the release.  Part of his release involved his agreement to drop an appeal against his conviction.  That leads some to question whether this release is part of a deal between the U.K. and Libya to bury potentially thorny questions about who is actually responsible for the bombing (al-Megrahi, whatever his involvement, is not alleged to have been the mastermind).

The Wall Street Journal reports that Senate Democrats and the White House are considering splitting the health-care reform bill in two in order to use the reconciliation procedure to pass some elements.  Reaction to this idea, Philip Klein reports, seems mostly negative.  Meanwhile, President Obama published an op-ed in the New York Times to promote his health-care agenda.  David Rivkin and Lee Casey argue that the proposed health-care reform is, in any case, unconstitutional.  Jonathan Adler and Jack Balkin both disagree with that argument (and with each other).

Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan.  Afghani officials call the election a success, at least from a security point of view, with no major disruptions.  This story is disputed by some journalists; if they are correct, and people were staying away from the polling places, then it may prove Anne Applebaum correct that the Taliban’s goal in the elections was to cast doubt upon the legitimacy of the new Afghan president.  Bill Roggio, however, sees proof that the Taliban is too weak to mount a major offensive against an obvious target.

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Former Vice President Dick Cheney is threatening to write a “tell-all” book about the Bush administration, saying the “statute of limitations has expired” on his secrets.  Cheney apparently feels that Bush moved away from Cheney’s preferred policies during the second term.

Anthony Cordesman claims that the U.S. may need to deploy 45,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.  Dave Schuler claims that this is a lowball figure, claiming that securing the country would likely require 325,000 to 820,000 troops.  Spencer Ackerman reports on the growing concern about goals in Afghanistan, including a more-contentious-than-expected press conference with envoy Richard Holbrooke.  Philip Giraldi says that Afghanistan is increasingly a sideshow and that the U.S. needs to concentrate on Pakistan, where a series of attacks on nuclear facilities show that the country is “unraveling.”  Eric Etheridge has much more from a variety of sources.

John Bellinger, the legal adviser to the State Department from 2005 to 2009, wrote an op-ed questioning the Obama administration’s strategy regarding the International Criminal Court.  So far, he says, the administration is unclear regarding its direction but the status quo is unlikely to change.

Protests against the proposed health-care reform are succeeding, according to a Gallup poll.  As Mickey Kaus points out, the poll is interesting but the real issue is how opinions on the reform change.

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