US intelligence officials do not see a reversal in security gains, but Iraqi political maneuvering could affect decisions to keep US troops in trouble spots.
Congressional Democrats are voicing discomfort over the seemingly open-ended commitment in Afghanistan and the question of what to do with prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
AP - President Barack Obama declared Wednesday he would try to block the court-ordered release of photos showing U.S. troops abusing prisoners, abruptly reversing his position out of concern the pictures would "further inflame anti-American opinion" and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
AP - President Barack Obama is considering a list of more than six contenders for the Supreme Court that is dominated by women and Hispanics, one that includes judges and leaders from own his administration who have never donned a judicial robe.
AP - The White House scrambled to unify Democrats behind a single health care appeal Wednesday — lower costs, plenty of choice — amid concerns Republicans could scare votes away with images of a ghastly system run by bureaucrats. A key senator pushed to enforce an offer from care providers to trim $2 trillion in costs over the next decade.
Former death row inmate Paul House woke to cries of joy from his mother to learn that he was a free man. "You've been exonerated," his mother told him. "Took 'em long enough," he replied. House spent 22 years on death row for the rape and murder of a neighbor. He left prison last year and was placed under house arrest after the Supreme Court raised issues.
The search for a Supreme Court nominee has been trimmed to about half a dozen candidates by top White House officials, and an announcement may come by month's end, two sources tell CNN. All but one of the top candidates being given serious scrutiny are women, the sources said. Also on the list, a source said, was California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno.