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January 28, 2012 | | IN NEWSWEEK The conservatives who hate Mitt Romney the most have got it wrong. They’d love him in the White House, writes Peter J. Boyer in this week’s Newsweek. DON’T GO! At least Sarkozy knows these guys can’t vote for him. Afghan lawmakers are attacking the French’s president’s proposal to withdraw troops from Afghanistan after four unarmed French soldiers were shot dead on Jan. 20. Facing a tough reelection fight at home, where the war is the only thing more unpopular than the president, Sarkozy announced a decision to withdraw in 2013, a year ahead of schedule. "Afghan forces are not self-sufficient yet. They still need more training, more equipment and they need to be stronger," said Abul Hadi Khalid, an Afghan military analyst. Tahira Mujadedi, an Afghan lawmaker, said there was “no logical reason” for the French pullout. "When military forces are present in a war zone, anything can happen," she said, adding that the fallen French soldiers were “not here for a holiday.” MOTHERSHIP The Pentagon is scrambling to deploy the U.S.S. Ponce, an amphibious transport docking ship, to deal with rising tensions in the Middle East. The Navy was planning to retire the ship, which was decommissioned in March, but will instead outfit it to be floating base that can house high-speed boats and helicopters that SEAL teams often use. Officials are hoping the ship can be in the region by early summer to combat the rise of Iran, which has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, and al Qaeda in Yemen. The ship will allow U.S. Special Operations Command greater flexibility in responding to pirates like SEAL Team 6 did on Wednesday. COZY It’s no secret who the 1 percent want for president: Goldman Sachs, the wealthy American investment firm, is pouring enormous sums into Mitt Romney’s campaign through contributions and super PACs. Goldman and its employees are by far Romney’s largest donors, having given at least $367,000 to his campaign. Romney’s relationship with the firm goes back to his days at Bain Capital, when Goldman financed many of his projects and rewarded his business with sweetheart deals on stocks. Romney and his wife, Anne, also have significant chunks of their personal fortunes invested with Goldman, and earn millions per year in interest. NAUGHTY London police aren’t finished taking Rupert Murdoch’s people to jail: they arrested four Saturday morning in a sweep of Murdoch’s News International headquarters and the accused people’s homes. Three Murdoch employees, all male, were arrested at their homes around London, and a 29-year-old police officer was apprehended on the job on suspicion of corruption and misconduct. Police made the arrests after being tipped off by News Corp.’s internal investigation unit, created after the phone-hacking scandal tarnished the company in 2011. Investigators are conducting forensic analysis of News International’s payments from 2000 to 2006 in search of suspicious disparities. | | 
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