The summit will also agree to beef up the International Monetary Fund – possibly tripling its war chest to $750 billion, although the exact figure was still to be agreed.”
 
Henninger – Is This the End of Capitalism?

“Wonderland” columnist Daniel Henninger explains that the frenzy of ideas rolling out to solve the world economic downturn are not new responses to an impending crisis, but rather old chestnuts repackaged for the occasion.

“No surprise that the French and Germans, who for years have wanted to slow such American fast runners as Microsoft and Intel, came to London seeking ponderous new bureaucracies euphemized as a “new global financial architecture.” It’s been a long time since anyone thought to elevate the IMF as an economic driver.

Meanwhile, the new U.S. president is attempting to replace the American model of some three decades with the Obama model, which promises to grow the U.S.’s $14 trillion GDP (something else he “inherited”) with government investments in national health insurance and renewable energy technologies.

I’m thinking that the two happiest G-men in London are Hu Jintao of China and Lula da Silva of Brazil. Their game is catching up with the West. It’s a lot easier to play ball in the G-20 league if in the future the competition will be running in slow motion.”
 
Washington Post — Military Wants More Troops for Afghan War

General David Petraeus’ congressional testimony Wednesday was some tough stuff when it came to the prospects for pacifying Afghanistan. The general said that he was doing the job alright, but that to execute the same (don’t call it a surge) strategy in Afghanistan that he used in Iraq, he would need 10,000 more troops.

Writer Ann Scott Tyson explains why the Obama administration has resisted the calls from the military (a fear of too-rapid escalation) and what critics are saying (“incremantalism”).

She also gives a good sense of the stakes.

“In sobering testimony, Petraeus warned that “reversing the downward security spiral” in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan would be possible only with a “sustained, substantial commitment” of military and civilian resources.

Adm. Eric T. Olson, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, called the situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region ‘increasingly dire’ as al-Qaeda extremists and ‘pervasive and brutal’ Taliban fighters intimidate local people.

Al-Qaeda and other extremists in Pakistan are ‘actively plotting against American interests, American allies and the American homeland.’”
 
Bloomberg — U.S. Sees North Korea Going Ahead With Missile Launch
 
A North Korean space program sounds about as plausible as a cattle drive on K Street, but that’s what the folks in Pyongyang claim they’re up to with a missile launch scheduled for this weekend.

Writers Edwin Chen and Hans Nichols explain that with the leaders of the U.S., South Korea, Japan and China all in meetings in London, the diplomatic round robin that usually accompanies North Korean attention seeking has gone much faster.

Maybe people would take North Korea more seriously if they could feed their people or maybe if they didn’t use such silly terms.
“North Korea’s military today vowed a ‘thunderbolt of revenge’ if Japanese defense forces try to shoot down the rocket. North Korea will hit back against “any small move to shoot down our peaceful satellite launch,” the communist nation’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement carried by the official Korea Central News Agency.”
 
Wall Street Journal — Stimulus Stance Isolates Sanford
   
Of all the rising Republican stars, South Carolina Gov. mark Sanford is the only one without any dents in his fenders. Bobby Jindal had the cringe-inducing response to the Obama address; Sarah Palin has lots and lots of drama; Haley Barbour is an old-fashioned political fixer.

But his decision to resist stimulus money for extending state welfare programs could be his biggest test.
If he caves in, he’ll lose some of his cache with national conservatives. But, as writers Alex Roth and Valerie Bauerlein observe, the consequences at home would be dire if he takes the cash.

“Mr. Sanford faces a Friday deadline prescribed by the congressional legislation on whether to sign key documents accepting the $700 million. He said he would request the money if legislators agreed to pay down debt, which they have said the state can’t afford right now. South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell, a Republican who has been critical of the governor’s position, said the state has already cut its budget by $1 billion to $5.6 billion since August, and will likely have to lay off as many as 5,000 teachers and close down several prisons without the money.”