1. President Obama Hails Afghanistan Agreement, Greets Troops on Secret Visit - ABC News Page 1 of 4
President Obama Hails Afghanistan Agreement, Greets Troops
on Secret Visit
President Barack Obama addresses troops at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, May 2, 2012. (Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)
By RICHARD COOLIDGE, JAKE TAPPER (@jaketapper) and DEVIN DWYER (@devindwyer)
KABUL, May 1, 2012
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On a surprise overnight visit to Afghanistan, President Obamatoday
marked the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death and
thanked U.S. military service members for their determination and
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sacrifices during the 11-year-long war.
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"The reason that the Afghans have an opportunity for a new tomorrow is
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because of you, and the reason America is safe is because of you," Obama
Print told a crowd of 3,200 U.S. troops huddled inside a cavernous hangar at
Single Page Bagram Air Field.
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"We did not choose this warm" he added. "This war came to us on 9/11.
And there are a whole bunch of folks who signed up after 9/11. We don't
go looking for a fight. But when we see our homeland violated, when we
see our fellow citizens killed, then we understand what we have to do.
"Slowly and systematically, we have been able to decimate the ranks of al
Qaeda," Obama said. "And a year ago, we were able to finally bring Osama
bin Laden to justice.
"I know the battle's not yet over," Obama added later. "Some of your
buddies are going to get injured and some of your buddies may get killed,
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2. President Obama Hails Afghanistan Agreement, Greets Troops on Secret Visit - ABC News Page 2 of 4
and there's going to be heartbreak and pain and difficulty ahead. But
there's a light on the horizon because of the sacrifices you've made."
Obama addressed the troops following a meeting with Afghan President
Hamid Karzai in Kabul, at which the two leaders signed the Strategic
Partnership Agreement that charts a course for the U.S.-Afghanistan
relationship beyond 2014, when the final American combat troops will
withdraw.
"Neither Americans nor the Afghan people asked for this war, yet for a
decade we've stood together," President Obama said at the signing
ceremony. "Today, with the signing of the strategic partnership
agreement, we look forward to a future of peace. Today, we're agreeing to
be long-term partners."
Obama will address the nation live from Bagram Air Base tonight at 7:30
p.m. ET to explain how and why the agreement will ensure U.S. military
and financial support for Afghanistan for years to come, officials said.
The arrangement, inked ahead of a NATO summit on Afghanistan in
Chicago later this month, is designed to send a message to the region that
the U.S. is not abandoning the country even as it sharply reduces its
footprint there.
As the Afghan military takes the lead in domestic security
operations, U.S. intelligence resources, military aircraft
and counterterrorism tools will continue to provide
support, officials said.
Medicare Plan
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MedicarePlans.PlanPrescribe when Russia withdrew from Afghanistan, leading to civil
war, the rise of the Taliban and creation of a safe haven
from which bin Laden could launch his attacks.
Secret Mission for Obama
Obama touched down at Bagram Air Field just outside the Afghan capital
at 1:50 p.m. ET Tuesday, following a roughly 13-hour flight aboard Air
Force One that was shrouded in secrecy to protect the president's
security.
The trip -- Obama's third to Afghanistan since becoming president --
began shortly after midnight Tuesday eastern time, when Air Force One
took off from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C.
After landing at Bagram at 10:20 p.m. local time, Obama immediately
boarded a waiting Chinook helicopter for a 20-minute flight to Kabul,
flying under cover of darkness, before landing and motorcading to the
Afghan Presidential Palace.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and ISAF Commander Lt. Gen. Curtis
"Mike" Scaparrotti greeted the president at Bagram and joined him for
the trip to visit Karzai. The president was also joined on the trip by Sens.
Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., who serve on the Senate
Armed Services Committee.
Following the signing ceremony for the Strategic Partnership Agreement,
Obama and his entourage traveled by helicopter back to Bagram, where
he spokes to military service members -- most from the Army 1st Infantry
Division -- inside an empty hangar.
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3. President Obama Hails Afghanistan Agreement, Greets Troops on Secret Visit - ABC News Page 3 of 4
Visit Amid Strained Relations
A semi-annual Pentagon report to Congress released Tuesday on the
status of the 11-year war concluded that coalition forces still face "long-
term and acute challenges" because of safe havens in Pakistan and
"widespread corruption" within the Afghan government "that limits its
effectiveness and legitimacy."
Still, the Taliban has been degraded and security in the country has
improved over the past six months, according to the report. After five
consecutive years during which enemy-initiated attacks rose, they
dropped 9 percent in 2011 over 2010 and were down 16 percent in 2012
compared to the year before.
"We are making serious important progress" but "challenges remain," a
senior Defense Department official told reporters this week.
A number of bloody incidents involving American and Afghan soldiers
and civilians have also complicated the war effort.
In March, a U.S. soldier went on a shooting rampage in an Afghan village,
killing 17 civilians including women and children, sparking anti-American
protests across the country.
Meanwhile, the number of U.S. service members killed by Afghan allies
they worked alongside has continued to climb, with more than a dozen so-
called green-on-blue attacks leaving 10 dead Americans dead this year
alone.
The inadvertent burning of Korans by American soldiers on a military
base earlier this year and photos of troops posing with deceased Afghans
and urinating on their corpses have also inflamed U.S.-Afghan relations.
The U.S. and its NATO allies intend to turn over security control to the
Afghans by the end of 2014. The U.S. is expected to reduce its force to
about 68,000 by the end of September, down from the roughly 88,000
now in Afghanistan.
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President Obama Hails Afghanistan Agreement, Greets Troops
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KABUL, May 1, 2012
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Obama Re-Elect Pushes Afghan Withdrawal
The U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan has become a major selling
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point of Obama's re-election campaign.
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"Change is the promise we made in 2008," Obama told supporters at a
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campaign fundraiser in Detroit last month. "For the first time in nine
Print years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. We have refocused our
Single Page efforts on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. Al Qaeda is
weaker than it's ever been. Thanks to our amazing troops, Osama bin
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Laden no longer walks the face of this Earth."
"We have begun to transition out of Afghanistan. That's what change is,"
he said.
The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found a record
-high number -- 66 percent -- of Americans believe the
Afghanistan war has not been worth fighting, matching
opposition to the war in Iraq at its peak five years ago.
53yr Old Woman, Looks 25
Mom reveals simple wrinkle
trick that has angered As for views of Obama's handling of the war effort, more
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www.ConsumerLifestyleMag.c Americans approve than disapprove of his leadership, 48
to 43 percent.
Tuesday's trip marks Obama's third visit to Afghanistan
since he took office in 2009.
He most recently visited Kabul in December 2010, one year after
approving a surge of U.S. troops to try and stabilize the war-torn country.
Obama made his first visit as president in March 2010, when he rallied
U.S. troops and pressed Karzai in a private meeting to more forcefully
combat government corruption and fight Islamic extremism.
ABC News' Luis Martinez, Gary Langer and Mary Bruce contributed to
this report.
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