F5122

F5122

Manarola

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water

paesaggio

landscape

italy

canon

5d

2011
Flickr.com

central park

central park

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New York

central park

usa

trees

flowers

tulip

park

tulipany

kwiaty

myto

myto from warsaw

canon

canon 7d

7d
Flickr.com

Perfect North

Perfect North

Perfect North Slopes resort in Lawrenceburg, IN. Filename: USA-IN-2011-0416

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Faye

Perfect North

Perfect North Slopes

skiing

Lawrenceburg

Indiana

USA
Flickr.com

Fall Scenary @ Sultan WA, Otcober 2008

fall scenary @ Sultan WA, Otcober 2008

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Beauty

Blue

Color

Colorful

Fall

Green

Landscape

National Geographic

Nature

River

Scenary

Scenic

Skykomish River

Travel

Wallpaper

Sultan

Washington

USA

sultan wa, fall scenary

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terre et mer

terre et mer

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agde

sea

water

mer

ciel

sky

bleu

blue

jete

jetty

canal

lighthouse

phare

sun

soleil

seascape

panorama

nature

photos

photographie

photography

picture

wallpaper

fond d'cran

hrault

languedoc

france

europe

francia

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colour

couleurqtdz
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City Lights 42

City Lights 42

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city lights

park

hesperian puisto

hesperiaparken

helsinki

helsingfors

suomi

finland

winter

snow

dark

trash can

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bush

bokeh

light

bubble

multiexposure

multiple exposure

triple exposure

pni

skrubu

pekka nikrusqtdz
Flickr.com

US Fed to press on with QE, keep interest rates on hold

US Fed to press on with QE, keep interest rates on hold

The Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at a record low today and carry on with quantitative easing (QE) in a vote that's forecast by economists to be without dissent for the first time in months.

Economists generally expect the Fed to signal that the threat of deflation has receded in an echo of remarks Mr Bernanke made earlier this month. Photo: Getty

By Richard Blackden, US Business Editor 12:28PM GMT 26 Jan 2011

Comments

The meeting of the Fed's Open Market Committee - the body that sets interest rates at the bank - will be the first since the departure of Thomas Hoenig, the president of the Kansas City Fed who consistently voted against more QE.

As part of the usual rotation of regional presidents on to the FOMC, Hoenig is leaving and Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia branch of the Fed is joining, alongside three other new members.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has insisted that the a second, $600bn round of QE is necessary to help bring down an unemployment rate that remained stubbornly close to 10pc throughout last year. Critics of the controversial policy argue it will do little to prompt companies to hire and risks stoking inflation.

Since the Fed's last meeting in December, the economy has continued to offer some cause for hope, with manufacturing and consumer spending gaining traction. That optimism was strengthened after Congress and President Obama agreed to extend tax cuts for the next two years, prompting a flurry of higher forecasts for the economy from analysts on Wall Street.

"The FOMC may express more solidarity behind the already announced $600bn programme of Treasury purchases than we have seen in a while," said Julia Coronado, an economist at BNP Paribas.

The Fed's statement accompanying the decision will draw its usual fierce scrutiny from investors and traders eager to detect any change in policymakers' thinking. Economists generally expect the Fed to signal that the threat of deflation - one of the justifications for embarking on more QE - has receded in an echo of remarks Mr Bernanke made earlier this month.

Though Mr Hoenig has now left, the meeting is unlikely to be short of debate. Mr Plosser has already said that the Fed should re-examine QE if growth quickens further. Meanwhile, Narayana Kocherlakota, the President of the Minneapolis Fed and another new voter, has questioned whether monetary policy can do much to bring down a level of unemployment whose causes he has argued may be more structural than cyclical.

The Fed has kept interest rates at between 0pc and 0.25pc since December, 2008, when it aggressively cut rates in the months after the near-collapse of the financial system.

Get free advice on maximising investments with the Telegraph Wealth Management Service

thomas hoenig, bnp paribas, ben bernanke, open market committee, kansas city fed, regional presidents, philadelphia branch, controversial policy, charles plosser, unemployment rate, fed chairman, deflation, qe, obama, consumer spending, business editor, fomc, economists, dissent, federal reserve
qtdz
Telegraph.co.uk

New nutrition labels coming to the front of food packages

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

Grocery shoppers will soon see the amount of calories, salt, sugar and saturated fat per serving plastered on the front of many popular food and beverage packages.

On Monday, the food industry unveiled its voluntary front-of-pack labeling, called Nutrition Keys, designed to help make healthful choices.

The Nutrition Keys also can include up to two other nutrients, such as potassium, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, iron or protein.

The program is designed to "promote healthier lifestyles," says Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which announced the program with the Food Marketing Institute.

Consumers will start seeing the labels on some food packages in the next few months, but they won't be widely found until the end of the year. The program applies to packaged foods, but not fresh foods such as individual bananas or apples.

The plan is already drawing fire from some critics who say the industry is trying a pre-emptive strike so it doesn't have to use a plan being developed by the Food and Drug Administration.

"Just putting those numbers on the front of packages could be confusing rather than helpful," says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. "People may not know how to use these numbers in the context of a day's diet."

The program has not been tested or approved by an impartial group and doesn't contain a simple color-coding system that would help consumers make sense of the numbers, he says.

Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University and author of Food Politics, says, "It's hard not to be outraged at industry pre-emption of what FDA is trying so hard to do."

But Bailey says that last March, first lady Michelle Obama challenged the industry to develop a front-of-pack labeling system to help busy consumers make informed decisions.

The White House issued a statement recognizing the companies "for the leadership they have shown in advancing this initiative" but stating that the FDA "plans to monitor this initiative closely and will work with experts ... to evaluate whether the label is meeting the needs of American consumers and pursue improvements as needed."

The government asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to come up with ideas for front-of-package labeling. The report on the first phase of that study is out, and the second phase will be released in the fall. The FDA has been reviewing the IOM report and conducting other research.

food marketing institute, michelle obama, kelly brownell, food and drug administration, healthful choices, new york university, nanci hellmich, yale university, beverage packages, marion nestle, food politics, grocery manufacturers, food packages, labeling system, food policy, coding system, fresh foods, c vitamin, manufacturers association, saturated fat
qtdz
Usatoday.com

Barclays to axe 1,000 jobs as it cuts financial advice

Barclays to axe 1,000 jobs as it cuts financial advice

Barclays is set to lay off about 1,000 staff in the UK as the lender cuts the financial advisory staff at its branches, provoking fury from workers' union Unite.

Customers were increasingly buying and managing their investments online, said Barclays. Photo: PA

By Harry Wilson 6:00PM GMT 26 Jan 2011

Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said the job cuts should make the bank's managers "hang their heads in shame" as Barclays argued the redundancies were necessary because of changes in "customer behaviour".

The jobs are being culled as Barclays prepares to end its branch-based financial planning service next month, with affected staff entering a consultation period with the bank.

In a statement the bank said: "Barclays has been conducting a review of its financial planning advice over recent months. This review concluded that, given the changes to the retail investment marketplace, it is unlikely that this business would be able to deliver a return that would justify the investment required."

Staff will be offered what a spokesman for the bank said would be a six-month "redeployment programme" to help them find new jobs.

The news came as Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the bank, was handed a £1.12m fine by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to keep clients' money properly separated from the bank's own funds.

Between 2002 and 2009, Barclays was found by the regulator to have failed to have put its customers money into segregated accounts, meaning that at some points as much as £752m of client funds were mixed in with the bank's general funds.

"Barclays Capital committed a serious breach of FSA client money rules by failing to segregate millions of pounds of its clients' money for over eight years. This posed a significant risk and the penalty reflects the amount of client money involved in this breach," said Margaret Cole, managing director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA.

Last June, JP Morgan was hit with the largest fine in FSA history for the same offence, when the US bank was found to have held as much as £16bn of its clients' funds in accounts mixed with its own money.

The FSA began taking the segregated accounts issue far more seriously in the wake of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, which led to billions pounds of investors' money becoming locked up in the US investment bank's liquidation, in many cases because the money had not been kept properly separate from the bank's own funds.

financial planning service, barclays capital, investment marketplace, consultation period, client money, harry wilson, customer behaviour, money rules, advisory staff, customers money, retail investment, jp morgan, financial crime, barclays, redeployment, redundancies, workers union, new jobs, 12m, fsa
qtdz
Telegraph.co.uk

Train Bridge

train bridge

A close up of the train bridge that crosses the Trent Canal at the Lift Locks in Peterborough.

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Peterborough

Ontario

Train Bridge

Canal

Ice

Snow

lift locks, train bridge, trent canal, peterborough
qtdz
Flickr.com

Photography by Miss E.

photography by Miss E.

These Photographs were taken by Miss E. She graceious enough to come Rachell and my house and photograph me. She did all the posing and post production work with a minium of help. This is her first set of pictures. We are looking forward to working with her in the near future.

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first set of pictures

Miss E.

first

set

post production

Castlewood

VA

USA

minium, photographs, photography
qtdz
Flickr.com

0406 Strasburg - Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

0406 Strasburg - railroad museum of Pennsylvania

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Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Strasburg

Pennsylvania

USA

Railroad

Museum

Eisenbahn

Eisenbahnmuseum

strasburg railroad museum, railroad museum, online
qtdz
Flickr.com

West Coast Kayaking

West Coast Kayaking

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'Sea

Kayaking'

'Flores

Island'

'vancouver

seakayaking, floresisland, west coast, vancouver
qtdz
Flickr.com

Views of Prague

Views of Prague

You never know what you'll encounter in Prague. This duo was amazing.

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winter

tourism

tamronspaf1750mmf28xrdiiildasphericalif

tamronlens

tamron1750

tamron

streetscene

sonyalpha700

sonya700

sony700

sony

sightseeing

pragueczechrepublic

prague

lightroom3

lightroom

january2011

january

european

europe

czechrepublic

czech

capital

blackwhite

blackandwhite

alpha

a700

700

2011qtdz
Flickr.com

Hunches and Guesses

Hunches and Guesses

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Art Institute

Art Institute Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago Art Institute

Chicagoland

Cook County

Illinois

Other Keywords

Rothkoish

USA

United States

United States of America

Windy City

abstract

museumqtdz
Flickr.com

Les Magic Lodges: les palais des Milles et Une Nuits, dans le dsert de Libye. Une destination Hoosta Magazine.

Les Magic Lodges: les palais des Milles et Une Nuits, dans le dsert de Libye. Une destination Hoosta Magazine.

Magic Lodges Libye : palais des Mille et Une Nuits vous proposent une immersion totale en plein cur du Sahara Libyen, dans une contre lointaine qui, jusqu’ici, nous tait inconnue. L’on dcouvre alors deux magnifiques camps protgs par des dunes de sable impressionnantes. Spars par 250 km de sable, ils sont pourtant tous deux installs en demi-cercle nous laissant admirer l’horizon perte de vue. Chacun est compos de 35 tentes luxueuses de 24m2 dont le dcor est digne des plus grands films hollywoodiens, avec des lits confortables aux mille coussins, une salle de bain privative et une terrasse de 12m2. Les tissus, meubles et lanternes sont choisis avec minutie, dans l’unique but de retranscrire toute l’harmonie orientale, le tout dans des tons orangs pour l’Ubari Magic Lodge et violets, pourpres et blancs pour l’Akakus Magic Lodge. L’excursion en 44 propose par l’htel vous aura probablement coup le souffle au vu des merveilles que renferme le Sahara, mais certainement pas la faim. Chaque camp dispose d’un restaurant, le « Saharan », un lieu poustouflant dont les teintes et le dcor vous envoient directement au Palais de Shhrazade. Le chef vous concocte des menus allchants au jour le jour, en fonction des produits locaux soigneusement slectionns au march local d’Al Aweinat (pour l’Akakus Lodge) ou de Twina (pour l’Ubari Lodge). Une destination exceptionnelle pour tous voyageurs en qute de plaisirs insolites.
Le petit + : L’excursion en 44. Direction les lacs au dpart de l’Ubari Lodge et les villages de Tashuinet ou Awis au dpart l’Akakus Lodge.
Tarifs : partir de 150€ la nuit, incluant l’excursion en 44.
www.hoostamagazine.com/

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One Thousand and One Nights

Magic Lodges Libya

Hoosta Magazine

hoosta

libye

lybie

excursion 44

excursion desert

lakes libya

exceptional destination travel

Palace of Scheherazade

Akakus Magic Lodge

Eastern

luxurious tents

magnifiques tentes

hotels deserts

dunes

sahara

tentes

hotels

luxe

luxury hotels collection

travel

traveller

voyages moyen orient

holidays middle east

berberes

chameaux

dromadaires

tajines

sejours d'exceptions

dunes de sable, akakus, magazine magic, grands films download, salle de bain, impressionnantes, spars, violets, voyageurs, admirer, le souffle, excursion, cur, tait, immersion, la nuit, sahara, horizon, menus
qtdz
Flickr.com

Snowed In

Snowed In

After the storm - I went for a short walk to seee what I could snap.

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Nikon

D90

Park Street

Boscawen

New Hampshire

winter

January

snow

white

fence

trees

sky

blue

red

barnqtdz
Flickr.com

Can LoveFilm survive the streaming revolution?

Jeremy Warner

Myth and reality in world energy famine

Malcolm Moore

Savings of hard-working Chinese are financing the boom

Philip Aldrick

Surgery needed if capitalism's heart is to recover strength

Damian Reece

Goldman's results are no cause for celebration

Can LoveFilm survive the streaming revolution?

LoveFilm will need to fight off the threat posed by the legal downloading and streaming of films to maintain its market leading position.

Countless classic titles, including Cinema Paradiso, pictured, are available by post from LoveFilm but not yet to stream. Building its digital library will be a priority if the company is to maintain its lead.  

By James Hurley 4:51PM GMT 20 Jan 2011

Comments

Despite being an undoubted technology success story, as its Amazon deal confirmed, LoveFilm has yet to remove a remnant of traditional businesses that many technology entrepreneurs dread: moving parts.

Each week, it posts out around one million DVDs and computer games to its 1.5m subscribers. Its competitive advantage is founded on its ability to do so efficiently and quickly.

The company’s chief executive Simon Calver has previously estimated that the legal streaming and downloading of films will start to rival physical DVD volumes within four years.

One might even assume that he’d welcome the change it could bring to his business; moving its members to an online subscription would remove the need for its gigantic and costly logistical operation.

It isn’t quite that simple, however, and just as incumbent video rental stores such as Blockbuster failed to anticipate the threat from online DVD-by-post operators, LoveFilm needs to find a smart way to stop its customer base being eroded as consumers switch to streaming and downloading films rather than waiting for them to arrive in the mail.

Unsurprisingly, like its US rival Netflix, LoveFilm already offers streaming and downloading options. However, choice is relatively limited compared to the wealth of titles available on DVD; of the 70,000 films available to rent by post, just 5,000 can currently be streamed.

Studios have been slow to provide the content and obtaining the necessary subscription and streaming rights is proving a laborious process.

Calver says the short term solution is a “hybrid model”; by being a LoveFilm subscriber, if your chosen title isn’t available to stream, you can have the DVD posted to you.

Since that’s an option rivals such as Sky, Apple, BT and even Google – which recently established its own TV product – won’t be able to offer, it could provide temporary respite for LoveFilm.

In the longer term, increasing the volume of digital titles will be a priority, and Calver says the company is now focusing on tactics such as working with studios to obtain exclusive digital rights on popular titles.

With increased competition for its digital services inevitable, it will certainly need to avoid a repeat of its dispute with Universal Pictures last year which saw titles such as Public Enemies unavailable on the site.

Negotiating with major studios to obtain streaming and downloading rights for films is just one headache: the dominant platform for viewing streamed or downloaded movies has also yet to emerge; will consumers want to stream the majority of titles via games consoles, their television or PC? The answer will influence which partners LoveFilm needs to build relationships with.

Encouragingly, Calver recognises the parallels between what LoveFilm and Netflix did to the likes of Blockbuster and the threat posed to his own business model by downloading and streaming.

He’s previously said that businesses initially tend to overestimate how quickly technology will be adopted by consumers, but ultimately underestimate the long-term impact it will have on their marketplace.

He seems to want a strike a balance between the risk of procrastinating and being left behind and undermining his core business by jumping in too quickly.

When we spoke today, Calver conceded that his four-year estimate for how long it would take streaming and downloading to rival DVD rental may well have been an overestimate. His job now is too ensure the disrupter doesn’t get disrupted.

james hurley, cinema paradiso, downloading films, video rental stores, technology success, technology entrepreneurs, classic titles, calver, traditional businesses, lovefilm, amazon, world energy, mail, blockbuster, moving parts, remnant, famine, customer base, competitive advantage, dread
qtdz
Telegraph.co.uk

Brew Q Beer Bottle 1998

Brew Q beer bottle 1998

" Produced by Queer brewing Company, a short-lived San Francisco brewery. "

Tags

Harvey Milk

Harvey

Milk

Collingwood

California

lesbian

gay

bisexual

transgender

GLBT History Museum

San Francisco

SF

CA

LGBT

Museum

Castro

4127

18th Street

18th

Street

q beer, beer bottle, quot, san francisco
qtdz
Flickr.com

Cape Town 2010 iPhone4_041

Cape Town 2010 iPhone4_041

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Cape

Town

South Africa

Table Mountainqtdz
Flickr.com

PSYCHOSIS

PSYCHOSIS

sooc paranoia ;)

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abstract

macro

bubbles

droplets

water

glass

air

sooc

dark

square

green

light

natural

fish tank

Canon

EOS 450Dqtdz
Flickr.com

931 BROADWAY

931 BROADWAY

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nyc

newyork

nuevayork

ny

NuovaYork

broadway

NowyJork

novayork

Нью-Йорк

newyorkcity

cityofnewyork

nuebayork

NovaIorque

USA

EEUU

estadosunidos

unitedstates

manhattanqtdz
Flickr.com

Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai, china 2010

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Shanghai

China

Chine

elgalopino

Nikon

D3S

Night

Nuit

Noche

The Bund

bund, china
qtdz
Flickr.com

Portal Electrozavodskaya

Portal Electrozavodskaya

Cokin 219
Electrozavodskaya subway station

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cokin219

architecture

moscow

blackandwhite

nikon

f80

nikkor

30mm

ilford

135

xp2s

filmqtdz
Flickr.com

Marseille

Marseille

Marseille.

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sea

clouds

landscape

sunset

city

marseille

france

waterqtdz
Flickr.com

allo specchio

allo specchio

Januari in de Kempen
Geel, Belgi

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Belgi

belgium

water

ponds

channels

kanaal

birds

reflections

sunsetqtdz
Flickr.com

Utah Sunrise

Utah Sunrise

Next one in the Bryce Canyon series, hope y'all not getting bored with these!

I liked how the snow got caught up on those ridges making the definitive horizontal lines across the landscape.

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Bryce Canyon

national

park

Utah

landscape

hoodoos

hoodoo

sunrise

rocks

snow

bryce canyon, horizontal lines, landscape
qtdz
Flickr.com

Sunny day

Sunny day

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Flower

Floral

Blossom

Flowering

DOF

Bokeh

Cosmos

Bloom

Blooming

Nature

Natural

Back

Sunny

Beautiful

Lovely

Petals

Yellow

Green

Art

Two colors

Floral art

Garden

Hoa Sao Nhy

Goldenqtdz
Flickr.com

Jan 14, 2011 - 14/365

Jan 14, 2011 - 14/365

Taking my friend Kristen out to lunch at our favorite restaurant for her birthday.
And playing with our food after! 0:)

Stir Crazy Chinese food, Scarborough, Maine. I thoroughly recommend you try it!

Tags

Canon

SD1400IS

PowerShot

Portrait

Fortune Cookie

Green Eyes

Woman

1/14/2011

365:2011

365: The 2011 Edition

Food

scarborough maine, favorite restaurant, chinese food
qtdz
Flickr.com

la Sane Lyon

la Sane Lyon

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Lyon

France

europe

fond d'cran

wallpaper

photography

pictures

colours

images

water

green

river

embankments

quais

bridge

pont

eau

texture

landscape

waterscape

nature

people

city

ville

quotidien

trees

urban

town

urbain

Rhne-Alpes

francia

frankreich

photo

photographie

shot

fleuve

geotagged

europa

color

colour

couleurqtdz
Flickr.com

Benavente y bocadillos

Benavente y bocadillos

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Madrid

Spain

Europe

shyishqtdz
Flickr.com

Casa del Sol

Casa del Sol

Cceres

Tags

Cceres

Extremadura

Plaza

Square

Major

Mayor

Marathoniano

Villa

Village

City

Ciudad

Espaa

Spain

Espagne

Art

Arte

Ciudadano

Casa

Casa del Sol

Casa de los Sols

Cascoqtdz
Flickr.com

Robin Risk & Nibelka Madera

Robin Risk & Nibelka Madera

Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic

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Robin Risk

Nibelka Madera

beach

clouds

blue

sun

sand

palm

trees

water

love

happiness

Dominican

Republic

Juan

Dolioqtdz
Flickr.com

Kuredu

Kuredu

Tags

Kuredu

Maldives

Maldive

Malediven

Indian Ocean

Ocan Indien

Oceano Indiano

coral reef

barriera corallina

spiaggia

beach

plage

mare

seaqtdz
Flickr.com

Seat with a view

Seat with a view

Tags

Flood2011qtdz
Flickr.com

U.S. Seeks to Keep Afghan Troop Strength

WASHINGTON—U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan are seeking ways to maintain the level of combat troops there, even as they make plans to cut the overall number of American personnel to meet the White House's mandate to start shipping out forces by summer.

Under one early proposal, commanders in Afghanistan would cut from 5,000 to 10,000 staff positions, maintenance personnel and intelligence analysts. But the number of Army and Marine infantry would be untouched, as would brigade and battalion headquarters.

View Full Image

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

A U.S. patrol in Ghazni province Thursday. Military officials are examining how to keep combat troop levels stable ahead of a July drawdown.

A senior military official said Gen. David Petraeus has yet to authorize any formal planning for the July 2011 drawdown of forces that President Barack Obama announced more than a year ago. But other officials said Gen. Petraeus and administration officials in Washington appeared to back the general approach of culling support positions that may be redundant or expendable, while preserving, or even increasing, the proportion of front-line infantry troops in the field.

"You're still engaged in a war and you don't want to give up combat power," said an administration official. "Why would you send home gunfighters and keep cooks? It doesn't make sense."

The plan to reduce troop levels, which President Obama announced when he committed 33,000 additional troops for Afghanistan in December 2009, has been a running source of tension between the White House and the military. Reducing troop levels is a political priority, especially with anxiety on the left about the length and cost of the war. Military commanders are wary that too fast a withdrawal could imperil what they see as their fragile gains.

As recently as last month, Vice President Joe Biden promised that cuts in July will "not be token" and will amount to a substantial reduction. But U.S. officials played down the chances top administration officials would object to a reduction that preserves combat strength, at least initially. "Obviously you begin with the people that make sense to bring home. But ultimately it does involve combat troops," an official said.

Gen. Petraeus believes he has been given wide latitude by the White House to determine how to cut, according to a military officer familiar with his thinking, and also understands the cut must be more than 2,000 people. Officials believe reducing forces between 5,000 and 10,000 could satisfy demands within the White House for a substantial reduction. But cutting at the upper end of that range could entail reducing the military's firepower, they say.

Although there is no official cap, military officials in Afghanistan have been told they can't exceed about 98,000 troops, which is close to the current deployment.

Some senior officers believe keeping the same number of combat troops in Afghanistan after the beginning of the drawdown is critical to breaking the will of the Taliban to keep fighting after the summer. "The message [we are hearing] from the Taliban is that we are leaving," said a senior defense official. "A significant number will leave, but I guarantee there won't be any combat forces cut."

On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates approved temporarily sending 1,400 more Marines to Afghanistan, part of an effort to increase U.S. combat strength ahead of the spring fighting season and before the drawdown begins. Commanders want up to 3,000 extra combat troops in all to during the critical spring period to cement tentative military gains in the south of Afghanistan.

Separately from the July drawdown, officials say top commanders in Afghanistan are reviewing the makeup of their forces, looking for support troops that could be sent home and replaced with additional front-line "trigger pullers."

As part of this process, defense officials said, hundreds of support troops have already been sent home to make room for more combat troops. Mid-level officers in Afghanistan said it is often an arduous process to replace support personnel, noting that requests to fill staff jobs are subjected to intense scrutiny to ensure the positions are needed.

"We've got a lot of guys who never leave the wire," said one military officer, referring to a military base's perimeter. "I think we're asking what each one of them does and do we need what they do."

Stephen Biddle, a military analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, voiced skepticism about relying on support personnel reductions, saying many play important roles and that their numbers in theater have already been thinned out. "It certainly makes sense to try to remove the lowest marginal contributor first," he said. "But I am skeptical that there are large numbers of people who are just plain not helping the war effort."

Some military officials believe many jobs could be replaced with civilian contractors or civilian government employees. Military intelligence analysts, especially those assigned to higher-level headquarters, can be replaced with officials from civilian agencies or even contractors.

Also, military officials said there was room to cut personnel in maintenance depots, where Army motor pool workers could be replaced with contractors.

Commanders are also looking at where they can rely on Afghans—soldiers or civilians—to fill jobs left vacant by the withdrawal, the officer said. Afghan and coalition officials said this week they had an informal agreement in place to raise the target number of Afghan forces—police and Afghan National Army—to about 400,000, about 30% higher than the current target. There are currently around 260,000 local police and army forces in Afghanistan.

The drawdown might give coalition commanders an opportunity to more fully mesh forces with the nascent Afghan army, a move that could help improve the capabilities of the Afghans.

"They're looking at everyone who isn't on the line; do senior officers all need aides? Who can be replaced by contractors? Whose job can be done by someone else? Can you make two or three jobs into one?" the officer said.

Write to Adam Entous at adam.entous@wsj.com, Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com and Matthew Rosenberg at matthew.rosenberg@wsj.com

gen david petraeus, david petraeus, gen petraeus, ghazni province, barack obama, line infantry, infantry troops, battalion headquarters, joe biden, combat troop, political priority, army and marine, intelligence analysts, combat power, troop levels, gunfighters, combat troops, drawdown, president joe, military commanders
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Europe.wsj.com

Small Mule Deer under a tree

Small Mule Deer under a tree

Jackson, Wyoming
Larger: Full Size On Black

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Mule

Deer

faun

Winter

Snow

Landscape

Mountain

Mountains

Teton

Tetons

Jackson

Wyoming

Jackson Hole

83001

John Sullivan

Kneebeau

Kodak

E100G

35mm

Ektachrome

Professional

Color

Slide

Transparency

Film

ISO-100

Minolta X-700qtdz
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Rookwood Cemetery

Rookwood Cemetery

Lidcombe, NSW Australia

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Lidcombe

NSW

Australia

Sydney

Rookwood Cemetery

Rookwood

Cemetery

Nacropolisqtdz
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Art shop

Art shop

Jerusalem City

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Travel

cities

artqtdz
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Amoureux de la place St Marc

photo" width="640" height="491">

Amoureux de la place St Marc

Il faut tout de mme laisser Venise sur une bonne note... Ce que j'ai bien aim, c'est cette fte de la St Sylvestre sur la place St Marc. Nous nous y sommes rendus aprs minuit, alors que des milliers de personnes quittaient dj. Nous y avons trouv les irrductibles, de jeunes italiens venus de la terre ferme pour faire la fte sur la grande place. Il y avait beaucoup d'amoureux, de jeunes couples et tous se prtaient volontiers la photo.

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Venice

Venise

Venezia

Place St Marc

Piazza San Marco

Nouvel An

New Year

Canon

party

place st marc, bonne note, grande place, couples, aim, dj, photo
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Flickr.com

Done running

Done running

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tank

dog

siberian

husky

american

eskimo

huskimo

tropical

parkqtdz
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