Obama makes unannounced visit to Afghanistan

[shawn703]

Source: USA Today

President Obama has landed in Afghanistan, where he is expected to make remarks about U.S. plans to withdraw from the war that is now more than a decade old.

The visit, which was shrouded in secrecy, comes just a few weeks before G-8 and NATO summits at which the Afghanistan withdrawal will be a big topic,

It also comes a year after Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, following a U.S. military raid on the 9/11 architect's compound in neighboring Pakistan.

Obama is scheduled to meet with Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, and sign a new U.S.-Afghanistan security agreement.


Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/05/obama-lands-in-afghanistan/1

[msongs]

1. must be an election coming up lol nt

[JoePhilly]

10. Before the last election he said he'd add troops there ... I'm sure you did not vote for him

as a result.

After all, he said that with an "election coming up" ... he said that, and then he did it.

[Tess49]

2. And NBC Breaking News just scared the hell out of me. Breaking news about President Obama. n/t

[ailsagirl]

7. I hear you!! n/t

[bluestateguy]

3. You just have to say Thank God that this man is our commander in chief

And that in times like this it is important for all good Americans to support their country and their commander in chief.

[goclark]

17. Thank God!

[truthisfreedom]

4. I can just hear the heads exploding on the right... they're going to do all of our work for us

spreading the news far and wide that Barack is spending taxpayer money to bring his peace-mongering campaign to the enemy. He's got them tied up in knots! We're exiting Iraq, the economy is on the upswing, jobs are up, Osama bin Laden is definitely dead, healthcare is still alive (for now), and GM is going strong.

[ailsagirl]

8. Hmmm... wonder how rethugs will distort this?

You're right-- they go ballistic everytime the President does something good. They'll go absolutely BERSERK when their opinions "hit the fan."

[Alamuti Lotus]

13. "Commie Muslim Kenyan President flees to Afghanistan to get orders from Taliban masters"

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. I'm glad to see him there; he's staying on top of things. n/t

[ailsagirl]

6. it makes me nervous

I don't want anything to happen to him but I applaud his courage.

[Bozita]

9. Meanwhile, Rmoney ate pizza w/Rudy 9/11 Giuliani at a NYC firehouse today

great move, Willard!

Those two should have eaten CHICKEN!

[bluedigger]

11. Well if that doesn't bury the #Occupy lede, I don't know what will!

Well played, Mr. President, well played.

[TheWraith]

12. Right, because they absolutely schedule major international agreements...

...to bury the two new stories about a couple thousand people protesting.

[bluedigger]

14. You really love to hate on Occupy, don't you, TheWraith.

Diminish and trivialize it as much as you can, but those pesky idealists just won't go away, will they?

The President was under what urgency, exactly, to declare today the beginning of the continuation of War Without End as official US policy?

Probably just a coincidence...

[truthisfreedom]

15. Can we please not fight, people? I don't see anything indicating hate for the occupy movement in

the previous post.

[Tx4obama]

18. Presidential trips are planned months/weeks in advance

Obama did not do this on the spur of the moment.

And Obama did not plan his trip in order to bump the OWS protest off the front page.

No one is out to 'get' the OWS folks.

[bluedigger]

22. I believe May 1st was also scheduled in advance.

[rury]

21. I believe President Obama chose today because it is

the anniversary of Osama bin Laden being taken out.
It's a ridiculous quantum leap to assume that he wanted to "step on the Occupy protests!!"

[Life Long Dem]

16. That's about a 14 hour flight on commercial airlines.

Wonder what time President Obama left.

[pampango]

19. "to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan meant to mark the beginning of the end

of a war that has lasted for more than a decade."

Obama, Under Veil of Secrecy, Visits Kabul to Seal Agreement

President Obama landed here Tuesday, on a surprise visit, to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan meant to mark the beginning of the end of a war that has lasted for more than a decade.

Mr. Obama, arriving after nightfall under a veil of secrecy at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, flew by helicopter to the presidential palace, where he was to meet President Hamid Karzai before both leaders signed the pact. It is intended to be a road map for two nations lashed together by more than a decade of war and groping for a new relationship after the departure of American troops, scheduled for the end of 2014.

Mr. Obama was scheduled to address the American people from Afghanistan on Tuesday evening, which would be the middle of the night in Afghanistan. The address – on the first anniversary of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in neighboring Pakistan – will give Mr. Obama a new opportunity to make an election-year case that he has wound down two expensive and now unpopular wars, here and in Iraq.

Still, the visit is laden with political significance, coming as it does in the thick of an election season at home, just four days before two big campaign rallies that will serve as the symbolic kickoff of Mr. Obama’s re-election bid. Mr. Obama’s campaign has recently emphasized his decision to order the raid that killed Bin Laden, who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks from an Afghan sanctuary and drew the United States into war. With Bin Laden dead, along with much of his Qaeda high command, Mr. Obama has moved with increasing dispatch to wind down American military involvement here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/world/asia/obama-lands-in-kabul-on-unannounced-visit.html

[tanyev]

20. Commence the right wing hissyfit in 3...2...1...

[alp227]

23. expanded/revised wash. post article after the speech

Obama makes surprise trip to Afghanistan to sign key pact, mark bin Laden raid

[cbrer]

24. Damn...3 days after I leave Kabul

And now this. I couldv'e gotten his, and Karzai's autographs. Oh well, maybe next war!