A bomber jacket? Really? At least Bush had actually served and flown in our military.
Obama traveled to Afghanistan on a “surprise” visit.
President Obama personally thanked U.S. troops for their service during a surprise trip to Afghanistan on Friday as casualties mount since the president escalated the war last year.
In a speech to several thousand troops inside a hangar at Bagram Air Field, Obama declared that the troops are making important progress in the country and will succeed in the U.S. mission.
“We’ll never left Afghanistan be a safe haven for terrorists to attack America,” he said, adding that he didn’t need to tell them it was a tough fight and difficult days are ahead.
That “surprise” had been planned for a month, and occurred on the very day the new unemployment figures were released showing a rise in unemployment. Quite convenient for him to be out of the country on this day seeing as how those numbers are released on the same day every month and a visit like this will knock the bad news off the front pages.
Allah doesn’t think this to be the reason tho, he believes its because there is going to be a lot of bad news coming out of Afghanistan soon.
Between then and now, we’ve had Karzai call for Petraeus to abandon his battle plan and learned that peace talks were being carried on with a Taliban impostor. So, yeah, the troops probably can use a little pep talk. Especially since next month’s Pentagon strategy review is almost certain to show less progress than hoped for when Obama first ordered the surge a year ago.
I think it’s a little of both. Time it for bad economic news and try to show support for a war that desperately needs that support. Given all that I am glad he paid the visit tho. Our troops deserve it.
He said during the speech the following:
As we do, we continue to forge a partnership with the Afghan people for the long term. And we will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who would attack the United States of America again. That will never happen.
So that begs the question…if the strategy does look like it’s going to fail, as it does so far, will he do what is needed to turn it around? Bush had the courage to back a new strategy when the old one didn’t work out. I don’t have much faith Obama will however. Does anyone believe he will order an escalation of the war? Nope. He will most likely steer the US towards turning tail and running, ensuring our paper tiger status in the world. Especially seeing as how he is on record saying victory isn’t our goal in Afghanistan.
Exit note...check out this part from Obama’s speech:
When so many other institutions seem to be shirking their responsibilities, you’ve embraced your responsibilities.
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