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September 21, 2012 | | SCORNED After writing negative articles about the Republican candidate, the managing editor of MormonThink.com says he faces excommunication. Is the church on a witch hunt? The Daily Beast’s Jamie Reno reports. GET READY The day has finally come! Mitt Romney’s campaign announced on Friday that the candidate will release his 2011 tax returns. In advance of the release, the campaign leaked that Romney paid $1.9 million in taxes in 2011 on $13.7 million in mostly investment income, with an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent. Additionally, the Romneys donated $4 million to charity in 2011, and claimed a deduction of $2.25 million of those charitable dedications. LET DOWN The organizing principle of the administration’s foreign policy is one of weakness and passivity, coupled with a conspicuous rhetorical abdication of American leadership, write David B. Rivkin, Jr. and Lee A. Casey. ANTI-ISLAM FILM Nineteen people were killed in protests in Pakistan on Friday, the deadliest day of protests yet in reaction to an amateur anti-Muslim U.S. film. Protesters set fire to a motorway tollbooth outside the capital and two cinema buildings in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing several, including a driver for a Pakistani TV station who was shot when police opened fire to disperse demonstrators. Pakistan’s government declared a “day of love for the Prophet” in a move that highlights the influence of religious parties in the country’s politics. In anticipation of demonstrations, the U.S. closed its embassy in Jakarta and Germany closed its embassy in Khartoum. Despite President Obama’s efforts to condemn the film, the U.S. has borne the brunt of anger in the Middle East, though a caricature mocking the Prophet Muhammad in a satirical French magazine has further incensed protesters. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED The the 33,000 U.S. surge troops sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban two years ago are finally returning home, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday. Panetta called the re-deployment of surge troops a “very important milestone” and insisted the U.S. is on track to accomplish its goals in Afghanistan. Though the withdrawal of surge troops was complete on schedule, 68,000 U.S. troops and nearly 100,000 NATO troops still remain in the country. While Panetta underscored the “enormous blows against al Qaeda’s leadership” in Afghanistan, he also said that we remain “a nation at war” in a nod to recent attacks in the country. The U.S. has vowed to turn over security to Afghan forces by 2014. | | 
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