US – Thursday, March 11
National
Bank your friend? Don’t fool yourself
Is your bank acting like your new best friend? Calling and writing about how they need to protect you — for a fee — in case you overdraw your account? Don’t buy it.
 
International
Canadian pols eat seal to make point to Europe
Canadian parliamentarians dug into a meal of seal meat yesterday to defy both animal right activists and the European Union, which has banned imports of seal products.
 
The Word
A little mother and daughter quality time
When your mom is the never-aging Demi Moore, you probably have to spice up your mother/daughter relationship with a little more than just having brunch together.
 
Movies
An ‘Ugly’ farewell and a role in a ‘Wedding’
It’s time to say so long to “Ugly Betty” as America Ferrera returns to the big screen this month with “Our Family Wedding,” a culture-clash comedy about a Mexican-American law student (Ferrera) who brings her African-American fiancé (Lance Gross) home to meet her caught-off-guard family. It’s the actress’ first film since the announcement that her 4-year-old ABC comedy won’t be returning in the fall.
 
Business
‘Free’ ad leads to fraud suit
NEW YORK. A Wisconsin college student is suing credit firm Experian — the brains behind the ubiquitous FreeCreditReport.com jingles — for fraudulent advertising after she inadvertently signed up for a monthly $14.95 monitoring service.
 
My Travel
Not your average island getaway
We promise not to get that annoying Beach Boys song stuck in your head — impossible now that we’ve  brought it up. Aruba, heading up that list of tropical islands sung about in “Kokomo,” is often incorrectly lumped with the Caribbean, when in fact, it couldn’t be more unique from the rest.
Like the others, Aruba has the gorgeous beaches and stunning coral reefs. What it doesn’t have are hurricane seasons. Tourists never have to worry about planning a vacation to the island that lands in the middle of hurricanes Brad, Manny or Zach. Instead you’ll be met with cacti and warm, dry breezes.
 
Published 17:56, January the 22nd, 2009
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Gates Says Military Starting to Plan for More Iraq Withdrawals

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday his first meeting with President Barack Obama on Iraq was “the beginning of a process” in which several options, including a 16-month pullout timetable, will be weighed.

Military leaders will give the new president a plan for this withdrawal timetable, as Obama has called for, along with information on risks that might come with such a move, according to Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael Mullen.

“Our obligation is to give the president a range of options and the risks associated with each of those options,” Gates said during a news conference at the Pentagon. “Once he has all of that, he will make the decision and we will execute it.”

Obama campaigned for president last year on a pledge to withdraw all U .S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, leaving behind a residual force to support Iraqi troops and conduct counter-terrorism missions.

Gates and Mullen at that time said a rigid withdrawal timetable could jeopardize hard-won security gains. Both were originally appointed by Obama’s predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

Obama’s discussion on Iraq was Wednesday at the White House with Gates , Mullen and Army General David Petraeus, the commander of all American forces in the Middle East and Central Asia. The U .S. commander in Iraq, Army General Ray Odierno, and the U .S. ambassador to that country, Ryan Crocker, joined the meeting by video link.

After the meeting, Obama said in a statement that he “asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq.” He didn’t identify a timeline for such a withdrawal.

On Thursday, Mullen said the process of providing detailed options for Obama on Iraq would be both “deliberate and yet rapid.”

Gates said he anticipated that Obama would meet with a number of senior military leaders, including the full Joint Chiefs of Staff, before making a final decision.

Mullen and Gates both said there is a relationship between troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, where U .S. and NATO forces are battling a resurgent Taliban.

Obama has advocated increasing American troop levels in Afghanistan, and on Wednesday said he would ask the Pentagon to conduct “a full review” of the situation there and develop “a comprehensive strategy for the entire region.”

Mullen said it was clear that under Obama “the focus is moving toward Afghanistan.” At the same time, he said the military must strike “a very delicate balance” as it shifts resources from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Gates said no final decision has been made on how many new troops to send to Afghanistan. He said all officials involved will “look at Iraq and Afghanistan holistically” as they approach decisions on troop levels.

There are currently about 143,000 U .S. military personnel in Iraq, according to the Defense Department. That is down from a peak of about 164,000 in 2007 during the troop “surge” ordered by Bush that year.

There are currently about 34,000 U .S. troops in Afghanistan, roughly evenly divided between a NATO force in the southern part of the country and a stand-alone U .S. contingent in the east, according to the Pentagon. Other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have contributed another 32,000 troops to the Afghan mission, according to NATO.

Bloomberg