We have breaking news on the battle over the war in Afghanistan. A former U.S. general who is now the U.S. Ambassador in Kabul is warning Pres. Obama not to commit more troops to war zone. Plus, the raw politics of Sarah Palin. She taped her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show today. We'll have details and talk with the authors of a book about Palin that provides new insight on the former Vice Presidential candidate and Alaska governor.

Want to know what else we're covering? Read EVENING BUZZ

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Steven Burton will make his initial court appearance in federal court at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer

On this Veterans Day, and every day, we honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. military. What we don't celebrate are military impostors. These fake heroes who say they’ve been to war, but who have never seen a single day of combat.

Tonight on 360°, Randi Kaye has the story of one man accused of stolen valor. The FBI says 39-year-old Steven Burton is a fraud, not a Marine.

According to investigators, Burton is actually a California bank employee who masqueraded as a war veteran, even wearing several medals – bogus medals. Though, not just any medals but some the highest military honors – a Purple Heart, given to those wounded or killed in action and the Navy Cross, the highest medal the U.S. Navy can award.

Tonight Randi will tell you who turned Burton into the FBI. It's a remarkable story.

We're also tracking breaking developments on the war in Afghanistan. A former top general is warning the Pres. Obama to think twice about sending more troops into the war zone. The commander-in-chief met with his security team again today to talk over options in Afghanistan. We'll have the latest.

Do you think the U.S. should send more troops to Afghanistan? Sound off below.

Join us for these stories and much more starting at 10 p.m. ET. See you then!

Program Note: Don't miss Anderson's conversation with the book's authors Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe tonight. AC360° 10 p.m. ET.

Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe
'Sarah from Alaska'

Introduction: Lights Out

IN A CONDOMINIUM SUITE at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin read over the election night victory speech that she would never have the chance to deliver. Thank you all so much. And thank you, America, for the great responsibility that you have given to President-elect John S. McCain.

It was just minutes before the stirring moment when the official results would begin to trickle in, but as the sun descended toward the desert horizon, her fatigue must have been crushing. Palin’s two months on the trail had been not just physically exhausting but mentally draining. This short, strange trip had tested her in ways that might have broken even the most hardened political pro, and she had suffered more than her fair share of setbacks and embarrassments.

Still, it was Palin’s gripping story and alluring personality that had breathed life into a once flatlining campaign. Her addition to the ticket had sparked a flood of donations, standing-room only crowds at rallies, and a surge in the polls for the Republican ticket. But along with Palin’s many positive contributions to the campaign had come as many ruinous malfunctions. In the final hours of this frenzied voyage, she would discover just how expendable she had become, as the McCain campaign was literally about to turn the lights out on her.

How had she skyrocketed so quickly into the stratosphere of American politics? Who had really been at fault for her many public stumbles? And what was it about Sarah Palin that drew such passion from both her fans and her foes? Even with the benefit of the thousands of hours of media attention that had been devoted to her candidacy, the heat of the moment did not afford the perspective for anyone to answer these questions adequately, least of all the candidate herself. On this last night of the campaign, Palin remained focused on the momentous judgment that the American people were about to deliver.

Even by presidential-campaign standards, Palin’s last two days had been borderline inhumane. She had started her Monday morning outside Cleveland, Ohio, and made her way across the Lower 48 to rallies in Missouri, Iowa, and Colorado, stopping twice in Nevada, before catching an overnight flight to Anchorage. Then she staggered to the finish line here in Phoenix. While mapping out the final days, Palin’s aides had suggested it might be more practical for the governor to vote absentee, rather than make the sixteen-hour Alaska detour, but she insisted on casting her ballot in her home state. A few paragraphs down, the victory speech became more personal, adding a touch of humor about her famously low-key husband. We were ready, in defeat, to return to a place and a life we love. And I said to my husband Todd that it’s not a step down when he’s no longer Alaska’s “First Dude.” He will now be the first guy ever to become the “Second Dude.”

Palin and more than a few of her aides had earnestly believed all fall that they could come from behind to win the thing, even though McCain’s top advisers knew the near collapse of the financial system in October likely foretold the Republican ticket’s doom. Yes, the crowds that had greeted her were enormous and passionate, and, yes, there was always hope that God would answer her prayers and grant her just one more miracle in what had been a string of unlikely successes in her short political career. But the recent polls were uniformly grim.

She turned her attention to the other set of remarks that had been penned for her, the concession speech. Like the victory address, its very existence would remain a secret after McCain and his inner circle denied her the opportunity to deliver it later in the night.

I wish Barack Obama well as the 44th president of the United States. If he governs America with the skill and grace we have often seen in him, and the greatness of which he is capable, we’re gonna be just fine. And when a black citizen prepares to fill the office of Washington and Lincoln, that is a shining moment in our history that can be lost on no one.

It was a poignant passage in the far less triumphant of the two speeches that Matthew Scully, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, had written in advance of either outcome. A cerebral animal-protection activist, Scully was an unlikely wordsmith for the governor who could field-dress a moose. He had also penned Palin’s game-changing address at the Republican National Convention, field-dressing Obama with charges of arrogance, elitism, and inexperience. This time, however, he was exceedingly cordial in a manner appropriate for the occasion. Palin scribbled in another line with her black pen, dropping a cherry atop the hot fudge sundae: God bless you and your beautiful family, President-elect Obama.

She had first discussed her victory and concession speeches with Scully two days earlier, when they spoke in Room 719 of the Mc – Kinley Grand Hotel in Canton, Ohio. Like Scully’s former boss and many of his predecessors in the Oval Office, Palin was the kind of Christian who felt comfortable expressing her faith in public, which the speech reflected: I will remember all the people who said they were praying for me. She squeezed another handwritten line in the margin, perhaps in an attempt to get the last word in against some of the McCain aides who thought it was better for her to tone down the God talk: You prayer warriors have been my strength and my shield.

The last few weeks had been particularly trying ones for Palin, as public missteps and allegations of selfish motives had accumulated one after another and threatened to define her. But tonight’s speech was her chance to launch the next stage of her political career, and surely her fellow Republicans had seen the excitement she had inspired among the voters; surely they perceived the promise she held for the Republican Party’s future. Still, she knew how important it was to avoid any perception that her own ambitions were anywhere near the forefront of her mind. She had done most of the things she had been asked to do in order to get John McCain elected, but she had only come on board for a small piece of the ten-year odyssey he had begun when he launched his first presidential campaign in 1999. This night was about him. Palin’s antagonists in Washington, in Juneau, and especially in the media would be paying close attention to whether or not she played the good soldier in this final battle of the war…

Editor's Note: The above excerpt was taken from the book, Sarah From Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar by Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe. Excerpted by arrangement with PublicAffairs, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009.

Flu.gov

Wondering where, when , and how to get the H1N1 vaccine? Go here to get the latest information on where to get vaccinated.

Ready for today's Beat 360°? Everyday we post a picture – and you provide the caption and our staff will join in too. Tune in tonight at 10pm to see if you are our favorite! Here is the 'Beat 360°' pic:

Sen. Joe Lieberman waits for fellow witnesses before testifying to the Senate Budget Committee.(Getty Images)

Have fun with it. We're looking forward to your captions! Make sure to include your name, city, state (or country) so we can post your comment.

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CNN

As the United States and other countries plan to send more troops to Afghanistan, take a look at some of the other struggles in history where war and economic upheaval are nothing new.

AC360°

Tonight we're talking to Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst, about the influence of Muslim radicals making their voices heard in both the United States and Europe.

Do you have any questions about this hot topic?

Send us a text message with your question. Text AC360 (or 22360), and you might hear it on air!

51 percent of Americans are confident in government's ability to prevent H1N1 epidemic.

CNN/Opinion Research Corp.

Americans are starting to lose confidence in the government's ability to prevent a nationwide epidemic of the H1N1 flu, according to a new national poll.

But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Tuesday morning, indicates a small majority continue to say that the government and private industry eventually will produce enough of the vaccine for the virus, also known as swine flu, to inoculate everyone who wants it.

According to the poll, 51 percent of those questioned are confident in the government's ability to prevent an H1N1 epidemic, with 49 percent not confident. The number of Americans who are confident is down 8 percentage points from August, while the number of those not confident is up 9 percentage points.

"Only one in 10 say they are 'very confident' that the government can ward off an epidemic," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "But the growing doubts may not be directly related to the shortfall of vaccine so far."

Keep Reading...

Program Note: Tune in tonight for Randi Kaye's report on this alleged case of stolen valor. AC360° 10 p.m. ET.

AC360°

The Legion of Valor was organized on April 23, 1890, in Washington, DC, by a group of Civil War and Indian War Campaign veterans who were recipients of the Medal of Honor. At its inception, the name was "The Medal of Honor Legion".

Legion of Valor comprises of members who have received either a medal of honor, a distinguished service cross, navy cross or air force cross. And uh of course other top two awards in each of the respective services.

It also condemns instances of stolen valor.

According to Thomas A. Richards, the membership chair of Legion of Valor, "Every time somebody steals valor and is recognized publicly, other people wonder when they see somebody else who who is decorated, who are served honorably, they wonder, “is that person a fraud too?” It chips away at our credibility a little bit at a time, every time that it happens."

Learn more about the Legion of War here.

CNN

Members of the Charles Manson's murderous family have been described as model prisoners who accept responsibility for their crimes. Yet many of their parole bids continue to be rejected. See "Then and Now" photos of key figures in the Manson 'family'.

Palin was concerned about the cost of the wardrobe that was purchased for her during the campaign, according to the new book.

Peter Hamby
CNN Political Producer

Tensions within John McCain's presidential campaign boiled over on Election Night last November when Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate, repeatedly ignored directions from senior staffers who told her she would not be delivering her own concession speech.

Those fresh details on the conflict between Palin and members of the McCain team come in a new book – "Sarah from Alaska" – by Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe, two members of the press corps that traveled with Palin during the 2008 presidential race. The pair spent much of the following year reporting on the campaign turmoil and the vice presidential nominee's difficult return to Alaska after the election.

According to a copy of the book obtained by CNN, Palin's speechwriter Matthew Scully had prepared a brief speech for the then-Alaska governor to deliver while introducing McCain, before he gave his concession speech at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. But after conferring in his suite with senior advisers Mark Salter, Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt, McCain nixed the idea of having Palin speak before him.

Keep Reading...

Palin will bypass several major cities in her upcoming book tour.

Alexander Mooney
CNN Ticker Producer

Those living in the country's biggest cities who hope to catch a glimpse of Sarah Palin while she is on her much-anticipated book tour may be disappointed: the former Alaska governor will instead hit a string of mid-size cities, many of which voted for her and John McCain last November.

According to Harper Collins, the publisher of Palin's forthcoming memoir "Going Rogue," Palin will bypass several of the major cities that are often the pillars of any big book tour, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia.

Palin's schedule instead takes the former Republican vice presidential candidate to smaller – and in many cases more conservative – cities like Fort Wayne, Indiana, Washington, Pennsylvania, Roanoke, Virginia, and Jacksonville, Florida.

Keep Reading...

Tami Luhby
CNNMoney.com senior writer

The same economic pressures that pushed California to the brink of insolvency are wreaking havoc on other states, a new report has found.

And how state officials deal with their fiscal problems could reverberate across the United States, according to the Pew Center on the States' analysis released Wednesday.

The 10 most troubled states are: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

The list is based on several factors, including the loss of state revenue, size of budget gaps, unemployment and foreclosure rates, poor money management practices, and state laws governing the passage of budgets.

Keep Reading...

CNN Senior Political Contributor Ed Rollins

Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the 11th day of the month as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.

It was the first anniversary of the end of the "Great War" and it was hoped we would never go into battle again. Unfortunately that is not how history turned out. The "Great War" became known as World War I. Many conflicts followed. Many more Americans went to war and many gave up their lives.

November 11 was renamed to honor our veterans in 1954 by one of America's greatest military leaders, 34th President Dwight David Eisenhower.

How strange that on the very eve of this day, President Obama was addressing a memorial service for the slain soldiers of last week's massacre at Fort Hood before the thousands of men and women who served with them on the Army's largest military base.

The president is the commander in chief and the task of sending young men and women into combat is the most serious duty he bears. As he ponders the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, he saw the men and women of our Army up close. These are the soldiers who will be part of whatever decision he makes. And they are fabulous soldiers ready for whatever duty he requests of them.

Keep Reading...

A CNN exclusive- Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes one-on-one with a soldier wounded at Fort Hood to recreate the ordeal, and look at the road to recovery. Tonight at 10 ET

JOIN: LIVE BLOG Weeknights 10p ET

Editor’s Note: Aaron Jackson was a 2007 CNN Hero who co-founded the nonprofit Planting Peace. Among its various projects, the group provides deworming treatment and education to impoverished communities in Haiti and around the world.

Aaron Jackson (back row, center) says his organization is able to deworm 250 children for less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes.

Aaron Jackson
Founder and President, Planting Peace
2007 CNN Hero

Gandhi once said, "When fighting for a just cause people tend to pop up."

As founder and president of Planting Peace, I see this every day in my quest to bring a little peace to the world. When Planting Peace needs someone or something for our cause, people just seem to “'pop up” and reach out to help. In November of 2007, it wasn't just a single person that popped up, but rather, many people – people watching CNN worldwide.

After CNN named me a CNN Hero and aired the CNN Hero documentary on my quest to treat the world of intestinal parasites through Planting Peace, thousands of people responded with open arms and generous hearts. In those first few days, I received literally thousands of letters, emails and phone calls offering monetary donations and a range of services. The response was truly overwhelming.

After seeing my CNN Hero story on the CNN.com, Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute of the hit television show, ‘The Office,’ contacted me via email. Although his work was previously unknown to me, he and I have since become good friends, and he has joined me in bringing awareness to the need of deworming children in countries in which starvation is so prevalent.

A week after the initial airing of the CNN Hero documentary, I was also a featured guest on Anderson Cooper 360°. Once again, the response by people across the world was overwhelming.

Through the assistance and donations of all of those who “popped up” after viewing the CNN Hero profile or reading my story on CNN.com, Planting Peace has developed national deworming programs aiding over a million people in Sudan and the Dominican Republic.

We have also reached our goal in being able to purchase enough deworming medication to reach all 3.2 million children in Haiti, a program we are deploying this month. Experience has shown that deworming can dramatically reduce malnutrition. One study in Zanzibar found that antiparasite treatment can reduce children’s malnutrition by 62 percent and reduce anemia by 59 percent. We hope to achieve the same great results in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doing everything in her power to get health care reform passed

Gloria Borger
CNN Senior Political Analyst

The story so far: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does everything in her power to get health care reform passed by keeping her Democratic caucus together.

She keeps liberals by insisting on a public option. She works on fiscal moderates by re-jiggering it. She works on lowering the cost of the package. She pays for it by taxing millionaire couples, appealing to the class-warfare crowd.

And to keep the Catholic bishops (and their moderate allies) on board, she keeps severe restrictions on paying for abortion in the measure. The liberals, of course, threaten to bolt - but it remains in the final package.

This is not legislating; it's whack-a-mole.

The challenge is simply to try and keep your unruly team in line, and maybe pick up a stray vote or two from the opposition. If you succeed, it's not about bipartisanship. It's just salesmanship.

Keep Reading...

Josh Fattal's relatives say they haven't had contact with him since he was detained in Iran.

Fareed Zakaria | BIO
CNN Anchor

Three American hikers detained by Iran are facing espionage charges, according to Iranian officials.

The three Americans have been held since July 31 on charges of illegally crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. The families and friends of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal say it was an innocent mistake and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has agreed. "We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever," Clinton said this week.

The move against the hikers comes at a delicate moment in relations between Iran and the United States. Fareed Zakaria, author and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria: GPS" spoke to CNN Tuesday about Iran and U.S. policy.

Keep Reading...

Anderson Cooper
AC360° Anchor

President Obama and Gen. Stanley McChrystal aboard Air Force One

Suzanne Malveaux and Mike Mount
CNN

President Obama is considering four scenarios to move forward in Afghanistan and is expected to discuss them at his eighth meeting with his war council on Wednesday afternoon, sources told CNN.

Though the options are not being spelled out, one is fairly well-defined.

That option, a senior administration official and U.S. military official independently confirmed, calls for sending about 34,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

A military official said the plan would send three Army brigades, totaling about 15,000 troops; a Marine brigade, about 8,000 troops; a headquarters element, about 7,000 troops; and 4,000 to 5,000 support troops.

Keep Reading...