NPR 2009-12-11

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carol Van Dam.

President Obama accepted his Nobel Prize today, acknowledging the irony 1 of a war president accepting a prize for peace. NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

The president gave the kind of speech that no one on the Nobel Committee could have imagined when they chose him in October. He put his decision to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan in the context of a just war, saying that evil does exist in the world and negotiations 2 can not convince some enemies to lay down their arms.

“To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is a recognition of history, the imperfections of men, and the limits of reason.”

It was a hard-nosed speech in which the president said he rejected the notion that he had to choose between being a realist or an idealist. And he called on Europeans to step up to the plate on offering troops for Afghanistan and sanctions for Iran. He said peace entails 3 sacrifice and requires responsibility. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.

Five young American Muslims detained in Pakistan reportedly wanted to fight with the Taliban and join a holy war. But they could not get into a training camp because they were not referred by trusted militants 4. FBI agents have joined the investigation 5 in Pakistan. The five are all believed to be from northern Virginia. They've been detained this week in the city of Sargodha in the Punjab province. The FBI says four of the five detained men had U.S. passports on them.

The top U.S. military official says 16,000 troops have received orders to head to Afghanistan since president Obama announced his new war strategy. Adm. Mike Mullen says the first to go will arrive in southern Afghanistan next week. The president approved sending an additional 30,000 troops to the region by summer.

Unions are making a last-ditch effort to strip a tax on health benefits from the Senate's Health overhaul 6 Bill. NPR's Julie Rovner has the story.

With the Senate health debate apparently 7 within days of a conclusion, Union members are worried that their top priority hasn't been addressed yet. They vehemently 8 opposed one of the bills financing mechanisms 9, a 40% excise 10 tax on so-called 'Cadillac' health plans, those with very generous benefits. At a news conference, workers who've been subject to the tax, like steel worker Jim Huber of Baltimore, said they've bargained the way wage increases to get those health benefits.

“We don't need any more taxes on the working class. It's just unfair.”

Health economists 11 however, say taxing the most expensive plans is an important step towards beginning to curb 12 health inflation. It's not yet clear whether or when the full Senate will vote directly to keep or jettison 13 the tax. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

Bowing to widespread criticism over doling 14 out huge bonuses after the Wall Street bailout, Goldman-Sachs says its top 30 executives will not get cash bonuses this year.

On Wall Street, the Dow is up 68 points to 10,005. The NASDAQ is up 7 to 2,190.

This is NPR.

Former Montana's Senator Conrad Burns has been hospitalized in the DC area after suffering a stroke. A statement from Burns' son says family members found him disoriented last evening in his suburban 15 Washington home. The statement says the 74-year-old Republican suffered an atrial fibrillation and then had a stroke.

Rick Warren, the Christian 16 mega church pastor 17 and author is vigorously condemning 19 a bill in Uganda to apply the death penalty for homosexual practice. Warren supported California's Prop 20 8 which banned gay marriage. And his statement is notable since he has close ties with many Ugandan ministers and politicians. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.

Until now, Warren has declined to condemn 18 the anti-gay bill, saying that a pastor should not interfere 21 in the politics of other countries. But as other religious leaders called for killing 22 the bill and Warren remained silent, some people accused him of quietly endorsing 23 it. Today, quoting Edmund Burke's observation that all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, Warren sent a video message, urging Uganda's religious leaders to work against the bill, which he called unjust, terrible and evil. Yesterday there were reports that the death penalty and life sentences for homosexual act would be removed. But the bill would still imprison 24 gay men and lesbians, and would require pastors 25 and others to report these people to the authorities. Warren condemned 26 these provisions as well. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

A little more than 31,000 homeowners have received permanent loan modifications 27 under the Obama administration's mortgage relief plan. The administration had hoped there would be many more by this time.

I'm Carol Van Dam, NPR News in Washington.