Obama in Afghanistan, sees 'light of a new day'

BEN FELLER

AP White House Correspondent

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — On a swift, secre­tive trip to the war zone, Pres­i­dent Barack Obama declared Tues­day night that after years of sac­ri­fice the U.S. com­bat role in Afghanistan is wind­ing down just as it has already ended in Iraq. “We can see the light of a new day on the hori­zon,” he said on the anniver­sary of Osama bin Laden’s death.

“Our goal is to destroy al-Qaida, and we are on a path to do exactly that,” Obama said in an unusual speech to Amer­ica broad­cast from an air base halfway around the world.

He spoke after sign­ing an agree­ment with Afghan Pres­i­dent Hamid Karzai set­ting post-war promises and expec­ta­tions. With two armored troop car­ri­ers as a back­drop, Obama made his remarks in the midst of his endeavor to win re-election as U.S. pres­i­dent and com­man­der in chief.

The pres­i­dent landed in Bagram in dark­ness, and his heli­copter roared to Kabul for the meet­ing with Karzai, under close guard, with only the out­lines of the nearby moun­tains vis­i­ble. Later, back at the base, he was sur­rounded by U.S. troops, shak­ing every hand. He ended his light­ning visit with the speech deliv­ered straight to the tele­vi­sion cam­era — and the vot­ers he was try­ing to reach back home.

“This time of war began in Afghanistan,” he said. “With faith in each other, and our eyes fixed on the future, let us fin­ish the work at hand and forge a just and last­ing peace.”

Ear­lier, he deliv­ered a sim­i­larly upbeat mes­sage to the troops. Not­ing their sac­ri­fice, he said, “There’s a light on the horizon.”

It was Obama’s fourth trip to Afghanistan, his third as com­man­der in chief. He was about seven hours on the ground in all. He also vis­ited troops at a hos­pi­tal at the Bagram base, award­ing 10 Pur­ple Hearts.

The writ­ten agree­ment that he and Karzai signed is to cover the decade after the planned final with­drawal of U.S. com­bat troops in 2014. Obama said Amer­i­can forces will be involved in counter-terrorism and train­ing of the Afghan mil­i­tary. “But we will not build per­ma­nent bases in this coun­try, nor will we be patrolling its cities and mountains.”

In his speech to the nation, Obama said, “I rec­og­nize many Amer­i­cans are tired of war.”

He said that last year, “we removed 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Another 23,000 will leave by the end of the sum­mer. After that, reduc­tions will con­tinue at a steady pace, with more of our troops com­ing home. And as our coali­tion agreed, by the end of 2014 the Afghans will be fully respon­si­ble for the secu­rity of their country.”

Posted by AP News on May 1 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.