Obama Makes Surprise Trip to Afghanistan

President Barack Obama is greeted by NATO Commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus, left, and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Elkenberry, after stepping off Air Force One during an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Friday, Dec. 3, 2010.

/ AP

Updated 12:35 p.m. Eastern Time

President Obama has made a surprise visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in the midst of a worsening jobs picture and a fight over extending the Bush tax cuts at home.

His high-security visit to the embattled and dangerous country, which following a secret overnight flight, was kept quiet until now under White House rules. 

It is his second trip to Afghanistan as commander in chief. He was greeted by top Afghan commander Gen. David Petreaus and U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry as he stepped off Air Force One.

The trip comes amid a review of the conflict, which is now in its ninth year. The review is not expected to result in a change in the U.S. strategy in the war despite a number of setbacks in 2010, among them revelations that the United States had been paying and negotiating for peace with a Taliban representative who is likely an impostor.

There have been 467 American troops killed so far in Afghanistan this year, the highest number for any year in the conflict up to now. The White House has its eye on 2014 as a possible date to end combat operations and next summer as the beginning of the wind-down period.

The president made the trip primarily to meet with and thank members of the military, according to the White House. He is scheduled to spend three hours at Bagram. After meeting with Petreaus and Eikenberry, he plans to visit with eight patients at a hospital on the base -- five soldiers and three civilian contractors.

He will award five Purple Hearts during that visit, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. The president is also scheduled to make a speech to troops before his return to Washington.

President Barack Obama is greeted by NATO Commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus, left, and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Elkenberry, center, after stepping off Air Force One during an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Friday, Dec. 3, 2010.

/ AP

The trip comes in the wake of the release of secret diplomatic cables that described out-of-control corruption and bribery in the country.

The leaks, from the group WikiLeaks, described the country as "a looking-glass land where bribery, extortion and embezzlement are the norm and the honest official is a distinct outlier," as the New York Times reported Friday.

The president will speak over secure videoteleconference with Afghan President Karzai from Bagram. A planned face-to-face meeting at Karzai's palace in Kabul has been canceled because bad weather is keeping the president from traveling to the Afghan capitol. Gibbs said high winds and low visibility made the trip to Kabul "not an option."

Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes told reporters planning for the trip began a month ago, and was designed in part to wish happy holidays to members of the military. He said this is a "particularly tough time of the year" for service-members and their families and that the president wanted to "underscore" the sacrifice they are making.

"While it would have been nice to share a meal, I think President Karzai understood that the purpose of this was really for the President to spend time with the troops," Rhodes said.

The audience for the president's speech will be largely made up of members of the 101st Airborne Division, which is on its 4th combat deployment. A rock band from the division played songs by Metallica, Blink 182, Oasis and other groups before the president was set to speak. Troops also sang a portion of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." 

Mr. Obama last visited Afghanistan in March, at which time he pressed Karzai on corruption in his administration. The two men met face-to-face less than two weeks ago at a NATO summit in Lisbon. Karzai has complained angrily in recent weeks about U.S. military tactics, specifically special operations raids designed to root out insurgents, amid heightened tensions between his administration and its U.S. counterpart.

In the WikiLeaks cables, Karzai was described as an "erratic" leader who was "indecisive and unprepared" and a less-than-reliable partner.

Roughly one year ago, Mr. Obama ordered an increase in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to about 100,000, tripling the U.S. presence in the country from when he took office.

9 Photos

Obama in Afghanistan

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Brian Montopoli is senior political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter.

[kds562]

W started wars and is now considered a good? president, would Obama be considered a great president if he ended them? Not by the repubs and their war machine but maybe by the millions who bear the burden.

[infantryman1968]

LOL!

So basically what you were saying is if it were not for Bush, Obama would have been a great President?

You cant be serious.

[run2jazz2]

Why can't this President do anything without criticism? He is President of the US and he went to see the troops in Afghanistan. Why does everything he does have to be criticized?

Damn, George Bush ran this country into the ground and yet he is being hailed as a "Great" President. Amazing!

[nottblu]

Obviously you were around during the Bush years since you are able to state "he ran the country into the ground". Of course people like ignore the fact that one man cannot run a country into the ground, in fact in America it takes legislation passed in both house of congress and neither side of the isle although both had majoritites when Bush was president neithere congress could pass anything without votes from both dems and repubs. Having said that do you feel the level of critisism heaped on Obam has been worse than bush? Keep in mind people like you are still critisizing Bush despite the fact the Dems have been in control for four years now.

[xila654]

George W Bush was a way better president than Obama is today, I dont think Mr bush would have given wall street banks taxpayer money without ensuring that the money wouldn't be used for executive bonuses among other things. George Bush may have made some mistakes thanks to his mafia connected advisors, but most importantly his heart was in the right place. Obama on the other hand started his federal career by double crossing somebody who helped him win his first state senate election in Chicago. He was corrupted by the Jewish and Christian ideologues who got him into power a long time ago, Those who assisted in creating chaos and decieving the population will soon come to realize that they have also been decieved. hook,line,sinker and they took the bait, watch and see what happens next.

[reasoned1955]

Nobody would consider me to be a supporter of Obama. Still, in all fairness, I must comment that I applaud the Commander-in-Chief for visiting the troops. I don't care about the political commentary on this, nor the quest for "hidden agendas". All I know is that the troops always appreciate these visits and reaffirmations of respect for our military men and women. Kudos to you Mr President.

[samXXkiley]

coucou,

C'est plut?t une bonne initiative, de la part de pr?sident OBAMA, ?a remontera le moral des soldats.
********************************************************************
This is a good initiative from President Obama, that boost the morale of soldiers.au revoir

[Birdman04]

If the military had there way, there would be only "one nation under God". The rest they would blow up with their very expensive and fun toys.
Hey I hear Switzerland has weapons of mass destruction. Lets go bomb the crap out of them too while we're at it. (sarcasm/off)

[texangirl64]

President Obama and Gen. David Petreaus look quite happy to see each other. Nice

[zebra8835]

George Bush and now, Barrack Obama have had TEN YEARS to get the job done! Does this tell you anything? Meanwhile, U.S. unemployment is standing at 17% if you count in the discouraged workers that have given up looking for work. The government's newly elected have the audacity to suggest raising our retirement age to 69 to pay for all of this and then want to rebate trillions in taxes to billionaires that don't need it in the first place. Tea party, shmee party. We need work and we need it now!

[tsigili]

Now the question is......is he meddling in the affairs of the military effort.....again?????

The politicians need to get "hands off" the military, and allow them to get the job DONE!

[thechooch1]

tsigili in this country the President is the Commander in Chief. Unlike third world countries where the military is the government. Would you have it any other way?