Daily Democratic Wire 9-28-2009

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama will travel to Denmark on Thursday to make case for Chicago hosting 2016 Olympics - Michelle will already be there and together they will meet with the International Olympic Committee. They will also meet with Queen Margrethe and Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rassmussen. You can read more here.

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Iran test fires another missile - more defiance and muscle flexing by Iran prior to scheduled talks this Thursday in Geneva. This type of missile reportedly has the range to hit targets in Israel and U.S. bases in Iraq. Representatives from the U.S., Russia, and China will be present and you can be sure discussion will be on allowing the UN immediate access to nuclear facilities in Iran. Reuters.com has more here.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates says failure in Afghanistan would be a huge set back for U.S. - a familiar refrain dating back to the Viet Nam debacle. President Obama is currently reviewing the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and deciding on whether or not to send more troops. Politico.com has more here.

Interestingly, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other NATO country Foreign Ministers have signaled their support for current President Hamid Karzai. Seems the consensus is that even if the number of invalid votes from the recent election resulted in a run-off, Karzai would still win. The Washington Post has more here.

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"Public Option" to be brought up in Senate Finance Committee this week - the mark up of the Baucus health care bill continues and it is expected Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) will submit amendments to include a public option. It is not expected to pass in committee. TheHill.com has more here.

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