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August 21, 2012 | | POLITICS While Romney and the GOP establishment are urging the Missouri congressman to quit over his ‘legitimate rape’ comment, a mix of abortion opponents and many Democrats, including his opponent, Claire McCaskill, are urging him to stay—for their own political gain. Patricia Murphy reports. AFGHANISTAN Afghan militants threw rockets at a plane belonging to U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, a spokesman for the U.S. military–led coalition said Tuesday. Dempsey was not aboard the aircraft at the time, but the hit still represents a victory of sorts for the Taliban—especially after two deadly attacks last week, including the Taliban’s apparent downing of a U.S. helicopter and the killing of two U.S. soldiers by Afghan police. A coalition spokesman said Dempsey had left Afghanistan by Tuesday morning—but it’s unclear what plane he left on or what condition that plane was in. SYRIA The Free Syrian Army is restoring a tentative order to the streets of Al Bab, despite ongoing rocket attacks around the border town by the Assad military. By Erin Banco. MONEYBAGS Those days when President Obama was a fundraising powerhouse must seem like a long time ago now. The president and the Democratic National Committee raised $75 million in July, significantly less than the $91 million it spent and also significantly less than the $101 million his challenger, Mitt Romney, and the Republican National Committee raised in the same month, according to campaign finance filings released Monday. Even worse for Obama: the RNC reported having some $62 million more in the bank, with $186 million cash on hand compared with $124 million for the Democrats. But it turns out Romney isn’t completely silent on the Chick-fil-A controversy: according to the campaign filings, his team spent $500 at a Chick-fil-A in Atlanta last month. RIP Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has died, the government confirmed on Tuesday. Meles was 57 and had reportedly been suffering from a long illness. Meles took power in 1991 after leading a coup against the country’s Communist government that ruled in the 1970s and ’80s. Under Meles’s governance, Ethiopia became an important U.S. ally, but his reputation suffered at home in the 2000s over his disregard of human rights. Rumors about Meles’s being in ill health arose after he missed an African Union summit last month, although the government insisted he was in “good condition and recuperating” as recently as three weeks ago. | | 
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