Filed under: Politics

Filed under: Politics

Filed under: Politics

Filed under: Politics

President Hamid Karzai Exclusive!

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the

the 9th anniversary of the U.S.-led

Afghanistan war and his push for peace.

Plus, why does he want to negotiate with the Taliban?

You won’t hear the answers from him anywhere else.

TAKE OUR POLL: Do you think President
Karzai should hold talks with the Taliban?

Filed under: Politics

Watch Larry's exclusive interview with President Hamid Karzai MONDAY NIGHT!

Filed under: Politics

Filed under: Politics

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

One of the world’s most controversial

leaders on the fate of the Americans jailed

in Iran, and his nation’s nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad’s final full-hour interview

on Larry King Live!

TAKE OUR POLL:  Should the U.S. trade Iranian prisoners in exchange for releasing U.S. hikers held in Iran?

Filed under: Politics

From Ted Barrett and Dana Bash, CNN 

Washington (CNN) - Despite a high-profile push from pop star Lady Gaga and other gay rights supporters, the outcome of a key Senate vote Tuesday on whether to begin debate on legislation that includes a repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy remains too close to call.

Republicans appear united against the measure, including some GOP senators who favor lifting the Pentagon's requirement that gays and lesbians keep their sexuality a secret. The Republican opponents are upset that Democratic leaders so far refuse to allow GOP amendments to the broader National Defense Authorization Act that includes the "don't ask, don't tell" provision.

Lady Gaga spoke at an afternoon rally in Maine to pressure the state's two Republican senators - Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins - to join Democrats in overcoming an expected filibuster attempt.

To loud cheers from the crowd, Gaga said she was proposing a new law titled, "If you don't like it, go home," which would remove homophobic straight soldiers from the military instead of gay soldiers.

Read more…

Filed under: Politics

By Alan Silverleib, CNN

Washington (CNN) - Almost seven and a half years ago, President George W. Bush launched a blistering "shock and awe" invasion of Iraq.

The goal: eliminate a perceived threat of weapons of mass destruction while replacing a hostile, tyrannical regime with a friendly democracy in the heart of the Middle East.

On Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET - at a cost of more than 4,400 U.S. military personnel killed and 30,000 wounded - America's combat mission in Iraq will officially draw to a close.

The quick removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ushered in years of grinding sectarian violence, war, terrorist attacks and, according to some observers, increased Iranian influence in the region. But it also paved the way for nationwide elections and increasing economic development.

Whether the war was worth the price remains a subject of fierce debate both at home and abroad.

President Barack Obama, who based much of his campaign for the White House on growing public exhaustion with the conflict, will announce the conclusion of the combat mission in a speech to be delivered from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. ET. He spent the day meeting with troops at Fort Bliss, Texas - a base which has supplied soldiers at all stages of the conflict.

Obama called Bush for a "few minutes" from Air Force One while en route to Texas, according to White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton. The White House has not said if Obama will give Bush any credit during his speech for the controversial 2007-08 military "surge," believed by some observers to have helped curtail Iraqi violence.

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Filed under: Iraq • Larry King Live • Politics • President Obama