7/2 Roundup: Helmand, Decisive Phases, Hunger as Motivator

Leader: Helmand

- Early this morning, thousands of U.S. Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade pushed into Afghanistan's Helmand River valley, to attempt to retake the valley from the Taliban.  The Helmand valley is one of the hotbeds for poppy growth and opium production in Afghanistan, which serves as a major source of finance for the Taliban. Pakistani soldiers fanned out along the Afghan border to cut off a likely escape route for Taliban militants. 

- Shortly after the campaign began, the military reported that a Marine had been taken captive by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan-- an incident unrelated to the new offensive.  The U.S. military is doing what they can to retrieve him.

Politics

- Ed Luce writes for the FT that President Obama has entered "the most decisive phase of his presidency." He quotes Simon at length:

President Obama was elected to make Washington work in the national, not the special, interest... The greatest threat to his personal brand would be the sense that rather than taming Washington, it had tamed him - that rather than the visionary leadership he promised, he was just another politician.

- President Obama held a virtual town hall meeting in Virginia yesterday, taking seven questions on health care, including one via Twitter!

Economy

- The unemployment rate has risen to 9.5%, and the economy lost more jobs in June than anybody expected.  The LA Times looks at the possibility that we're headed into a "jobless recovery."

- In the past three months, the WTO has counted 83 new trade-restricting measures, despite promises around the world to avoid protectionism in this economic crisis.  The WTO has a full-time job combating these new measures.

International

- The opposition leaders in Iran continue to stand up to the leadership, refusing to accept Ahmadinejad's victory in the presidential election. Mir Hussein Mousavi was joined in his opposition by Mehdi Karroubi, another presidential candidate, and Mohammed Khatami, a former president and cleric.

New From NDN

- Rob Shapiro has a new essay on America's rising savings rate, asking whether it's a good thing for our economy.

- Simon has a new piece that excerpts from David Leonhardt's recent article, and stresses the importance of keeping our focus on the economy.

One More Thing

- Last, Stephen Colbert is just hilarious, and that's all I have to say: