Saying our main missions in Afghanistan have been accomplished, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin is calling on President Obama to bring the troops home sooner than planned. Harkin, a Democrat, is among more than two-dozen senators who’ve signed a letter to the president, urging him to shift policy and order a full-scale withdrawal as soon as next month. 

Harkin says, “We wanted to say that to begin a sizeable, we didn’t actually put numbers on it, but a sizeable and sustained drawdown of troops towards removing all combat troops from Afghanistan.” Harkin’s name is listed first on the letter to Obama, along with 23 other Democrats, two Republicans and one Independent. Harkin says the current plan for dismantling the U-S military machine in Afghanistan is too slow and is costing millions of dollars a day.

“They’re going to take a few troops out this summer, then we’ll go along at a level for a while and then maybe we’ll take out some more later on and then we’ll level off,” Harkin says. “What we’re trying to say in the letter is a sizeable withdrawal this summer and a continued withdrawal every month there after until we have no combat troops left in Afghanistan.”

The current plan has the U-S pulling out the last troops by 2014. There are now some 100-thousand American soldiers in Afghanistan, including 28-hundred members of the Iowa National Guard. Harkin says the troops all need to come home, as quickly as is reasonably possible. 

Harkin says, “The withdrawal should be consistent with determination by our military leaders that we can do so without exposing our troops to any military action or harm.” The letter says U-S objectives in Afghanistan “have been largely met, including the removal of the Taliban government that sheltered al Qaeda, the killing of Osama bin Laden and the disruption of terrorist networks allied with al Qaeda and those who planned the September 11th attacks on the United States.” Harkin says, “The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits.”

(Matt Kelley/Radio Iowa)

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) – Missouri River floodwaters have reached the new levee that serves as the last line of defense for the town of Hamburg. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Carlos Lazo said Thursday the water flowing out of a gaping hole in the main levee 5 miles south of Hamburg reached the new levee late Wednesday.

Lazo says the new levee built over the past two weeks is holding, and there were no signs of problems Thursday morning. The corps increased the height of the levee by 3 feet after Monday’s breaches in northwest Missouri. The new levee protecting Hamburg is about 8-feet-tall.

The corps plans to release record amounts of water into the Missouri River through most of the summer to deal with heavy spring rain upstream and above-average snowmelt.

DETROIT (AP) – Chrysler is recalling more than 11,000 cars, minivans and other models because their steering could fail. The company tells federal safety regulators that it doesn’t know of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that a missing or incorrectly installed rivet could  cause a loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.

The recall includes the 2011 Chrysler 200 and Town and Country; the Dodge Avenger, Caliber, Caravan, Journey and Nitro; and the Jeep Compass, Liberty, Patriot and Wrangler. The 11 models were built from mid-April to early May.

Dealers will check to make sure the rivet was installed correctly and make repairs free of charge. The company plans to begin notifying dealers and owners in July.

Former Minnesota Governor and Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty has announced former Atlantic resident and A-H-S graduate Roger Underwood, has been selected as one of two co-chairs for his Iowa campaign committee.

Underwood is co-founder and executive director at Rural American Fund, a private equity firm that focuses on investments in growing middle-market rural firms. After graduating from Iowa State University in Ames, he co-founded Becker-Underwood in Ames, in 1982. The firm has since grown into the world’s leading supplier of non-pesticide specialty chemical and biological products, with annual sales of more than $180 million.

Underwood is a current and former member of numerous corporate and organizational boards of directors, including the ISU Board of Governors. Joining him as Pawlenty’s Iowa campaign co-chair, is Cedar Rapids entrepreneur and former gubernatorial candidate, Christian Fong.

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT) flood hotline is assisting travelers impacted by the Missouri River flooding navigate closed roadways.
 
Although there is an expansive regional interstate alternative route for through travelers or persons wanting to avoid the Interstate 29 corridor completely, many travelers still prefer to use a route that provides a more direct local alternative. That’s where the Iowa DOT’s operators can be of assistance.
 
Operators are standing by from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. daily. Call 866-452-8510.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say one person was taken into custody on a drug charge Wednesday evening, following a traffic stop. 24-year old Justin Lee Parson, of Shenandoah, was arrested just after 7-p.m., on a charge of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Parson was brought to the Montgomery County Jail, booked and later released on a citation.