Obama: Afghanistan, not Iraq, should be focus
Email|Link|Comments (11) Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor July 15, 2008 02:54 PM
boston.com
Obama unveils Afghanistan plan
Email|Link|Comments (30) Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor March 27, 2009 10:50 AM
Outlining his new strategy for Afghanistan, President Obama declared this morning that the "situation is increasingly perilous" and the "safety of people around the world is at stake."
"Many people in the United States – and many in partner countries that have sacrificed so much – have a simple question: What is our purpose in Afghanistan? After so many years, they ask, why do our men and women still fight and die there? They deserve a straightforward answer," Obama said.
"So let me be clear: al Qaeda and its allies – the terrorists who planned and supported the 9/11 attacks – are in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Multiple intelligence estimates have warned that al Qaeda is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe-haven in Pakistan. And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban – or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged – that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can."
The comprehensive plan was carefully constructed with input from diplomats, military leaders, and others, Obama said, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates behind him.
"As president, my greatest responsibility is to protect the American people. We are not in Afghanistan to control that country or to dictate its future. We are in Afghanistan to confront a common enemy that threatens the United States, our friends and allies, and the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan who have suffered the most at the hands of violent extremists," he said.
"So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you."
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