KABUL, Afghanistan, July 19, 2008
Obama Tours Afghan War Zone
After Visiting Troops In Kuwait, Democrat Talks To Commanders During High-Stakes Visit To Afghan Front
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Play CBS Video Video Obama Tours Afghanistan Barack Obama traveled to Eastern Afghanistan, as Al-Qaida and Taliban forces have increased their attacks in this region. Lara Logan reports on the Democratic presidential candidate's journey.
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Video Obama Visits Middle East "CBS News RAW:" Speaking before U.S. Army soldiers at a military base in Kuwait, presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama addressed various issues, such as the War on Terror.
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Senator Barack Obama speaks to American troops in Kuwait about their service and the future of the military, July 19, 2008. (CBS)
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Photo Essay Barack Obama A look at the life and meteoric rise of the president-elect.
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In-Depth VP Hot Sheet: Obama CBSNews.com ranks the top contenders to be Obama's running mate.
The delegation met with top military leaders and troops at Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. military base in the country, according to a U.S. military statement.
The Senator also stopped in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan to meet with local Afghan leaders and U.S. military commanders for a first-hand assessment, reports CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan.
Jalalabad lies near the Tora Bora mountains where al Qaeda leaders fled to and faced a U.S. bombardment during the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Obama and others in the delegation received a briefing inside the U.S. base from the Afghan provincial governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord.
"Obama promised us that if he becomes a president in the future, he will support and help Afghanistan not only in its security sector but also in reconstruction, development and economic sector," Sherzai told The Associated Press.
The Illinois senator arrived Saturday as part of an official congressional delegation, but the Afghan visit, Obama's first and coming less than four months before the general election, was rich with political implications. Republican presidential rival John McCain has criticized Obama for his lack of time in the region. Obama is also expected to stop later in Iraq.
Logan, traveling with the delegation in Kabul, said that by visiting Afghanistan before Iraq, Obama is signaling the primary importance of the war in Afghanistan in his campaign.
Obama has criticized the Bush administration for making Iraq the focus of American foreign policy rather than Afghanistan, which he deems a grave mistake.
Obama wants to make Afghanistan the focus of the U.S. war on terror and has promised more aid, money and more troops, reports Logan. It's the centerpiece of his foreign policy strategy for the presidential campaign.
Robert Gibbs, a campaign spokesman, said Obama arrived in Kabul around noon. En route from Washington, he made a stopover in Kuwait to meet with U.S. forces stationed there, Gibbs said.
Lt. Col. Bill Nutter, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Kuwait, said Obama "talked to soldiers and constituents and met with senior military leadership."
During the two-hour visit, the officers gave him an overview of operations, Nutter said. Obama shook hands, answered questions, posed for photos and played a little basketball during the visit.
Sultan Ahmad Baheen, spokesman for Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, confirmed the senator was in Afghanistan and that he would meet with President Hamid Karzai.
"I look forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is," Obama told a pair of reporters who accompanied him to his departure from Andrews Air Force Base on Thursday. "I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are, and I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they've been doing."
Obama had recently chided Karzai and his government, saying it had "not gotten out of the bunker" and helped to organize the country or its political and security institutions.
(AP Photo)
Underscoring the challenges in Afghanistan, authorities reported Saturday that a roadside bomb killed four policemen in the volatile south of the country where the Taliban-led insurgency is intensifying nearly seven years after a U.S.-led invasion ousted the militant movement from power.
The Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants also have caused problems in Afghanistan's east, especially near the border with Pakistan. Nangarhar's Sherzai, considered a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord-turned-governor, briefed the delegation Saturday about the situation in his region, his chief of staff said.
"Barack Obama expressed support for Afghanistan and especially for Nangarhar province," Massoud Ahmad Azizi said. "He said he will support reconstruction, development and security all over the country, especially in Nangarhar. (Obama) thanked Sherzai for good leadership and good administration of the province."
Obama advocates ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq by withdrawing troops at the rate of one to two combat brigades a month. But he supports increasing the military commitment to Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been resurgent and Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.
"Because Barack Obama has proposed an increase in U.S. troops to Afghanistan - and because the conflict on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has intensified - the senator's foreign trip begins with a focus on his aggressive approach to the war on terror, not on Iraq," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk.
"The Middle East leg of the trip will be more delicate and the European tour more popular," Falk said. "By arriving in Afghanistan first, Obama is making a statement about his priorities."
Also on his travel itinerary is a meeting with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi leader. In an interview published Saturday in the German magazine Der Speigel, al-Maliki said that he approved of Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops over 16 months.
On the campaign trail, Obama has said one benefit of withdrawing U.S. troops is that it would pressure al-Maliki to shore up his government as well.
Nonetheless, he said he did not plan to reiterate those messages in person.
"I'm more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking, and I think it's very important to recognize that I'm going over there as a U.S. senator," he said. "We have one president at a time."
"This trip gives Obama an opportunity to gather some first-hand intelligence to support the proposals he has already laid out," said CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs. "More importantly, the images and coverage of the trip can give him the imprimatur of leadership critics say is lacking.
"It also carries risks in that any missteps or mistakes will be magnified by the intense coverage," Ververs said.
Quote
In a speech this week, Obama said the war in Iraq was a distraction, unlike the fighting in Afghanistan.I'm more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking, and I think it's very important to recognize that I'm going over there as a U.S. senator. We have one president at a time.
Sen. Barack Obama"This is a war that we have to win," he said. "I will send at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, and use this commitment to seek greater contributions - with fewer restrictions from NATO allies.
"I will focus on training Afghan security forces and supporting an Afghan judiciary, with more resources and incentives for American officers who perform these missions."
By contrast, his opposition to the war in Iraq - and call for an end to the U.S. combat role - helped him overcome his rivals in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Lately, his efforts to explain how he will use what he learns from U.S. commanders to refine his proposals have brought charges from Republicans and complaints from Democratic liberals that he seems to be shifting his Iraq policy toward the political center. But Obama maintains his basic goal of ending the U.S. combat role soon remains unchanged and that he's always said the U.S. withdrawal must be done carefully.
Obama also arranged to visit Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England, traveling aboard a jet chartered by his presidential campaign, before his return to the United States. The weeklong trip marks his only foreign excursion as a presidential candidate; McCain has visited Canada, Colombia and Mexico, in part to highlight Obama's opposition to trade deals with those allies.
Few citizens in impoverished Afghanistan were aware of Obama's unannounced visit, and few have been following the U.S. presidential race, being too busy eking out an existence amid soaring violence and with limited access to news media.
(AP Photo)
But some interviewed Saturday said they would welcome an Obama presidency if he could help their country end the fighting, corruption and poverty that have crippled it for so long.
"Obama is a good person," said Abdul Basir, 40, a former army officer. "During his campaign I heard he was saying that if I become president I will withdraw the U.S. troops from Iraq and bring them to Afghanistan and I will attack on the terror center on other side of border (in Pakistan). It is very important and I appreciated that."
Obama began his trip with as much secrecy as a presumed presidential nominee can muster.
The senator took an unmarked, corporate Gulfstream-III jet, much smaller than his normal campaign plane, from Chicago to Washington. He was joined by his Secret Service detail, spokeswoman Linda Douglass and two reporters.
Obama deplaned at Reagan National Airport in Washington, took one question apiece from the reporters, and then his motorcade departed for a hasty ride to Andrews Air Force Base about 10 miles away in Maryland.
Upon his arrival, Obama was greeted by a group of Air Force personnel at the bottom of stairs leading to the military Boeing 737 transporting his congressional delegation. Obama's traveling companions, Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, R.I., were not visible to the reporters, but Douglass confirmed they were already on board the aircraft.
Both senators, each a veteran, have been mentioned as potential Obama vice presidential running mates, but Reed has said he's not interested in the job.
As Obama boarded the plane, luggage in hand, a pair of uniformed Air Force officers at the foot of the stairs saluted simultaneously, as they do each time President Bush boards Air Force One.
The only staff member to accompany Obama was a Senate foreign policy aide, Mark Lippert. He is a Navy reservist who returned in late spring from a tour of duty in Iraq.
©MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- perceptions5
In all fairness, if Obama had his way 6 years ago, we''d have slowed our rush to war in Iraq. We might have looked at all the intel and weighed its credibility. We could have considered the consequences of deposing Saddam as 41 did in the legitimate war against Iraq. We could have kept our personnel and attention on the fight against the actual terrorists who attacked us. Who knows? We might have even captured or killed bin Laden, the mastermind of the terrorist attacks and he would no longer be plotting against us.
With no Iraq war, there''d have been no need for a surge or a withdrawal time "horizon." 4,125 of our military would not have been killed in Iraq and thousands wouldn''t have been wounded. Al Qaeda wouldn''t have been allowed into Iraq for anyone to need to fight there, and we wouldn''t have handed them Iraq as a recruiting tool.
Instead of a year and a half ago, we can go back to the beginning and Obama''s judgement was superior to both bush and mcbush. They ignored the threat of secular violence and civil war. Mcbush did differ on tactics, but he took the bait for an optional war, hook, line and sinker. - Reply to this comment
- Just photo-ops.
Looks like he is getting a free ride via the press. While McCain has to pay for all his coverage, Obama gets free coverage. This is just a photo op, you can''t learn foreign policy by just flying to a place for a day or 2 and voting "Present". - Reply to this comment
- Yeah ! and Obama will see a totally different Iraq than what he would have seen if he had been Commander-in-Chief 18 months ago.........
Can someone wake this "inexperienced" Obama up and tell him that due to the "surge" that he opposed America, now with "success", will begin to draw down our US troops levels in Iraq.
But our "success" in Iraq is not due to Obama but instead it belongs to John McCain, the father of the surge strategy.
My fellow Americans our mostly liberal MSM wolfpack press is going to distort this picture grossly, as usual.
Bottom line is Obama made a "typical political" move by promising the 16 month retreat from Iraq at a time when insurgents threaten the freely elected government of Iraq.
Now that the SURGE has worked America is turning their attention to the final war in Afganistan.
But ONCE AGAIN our success would not "have been" had Obama, his Party, and his left-wing pals in our mostly liberal MSM wolfpack press had had their way a year and a half ago.
.................McCain/Romney..
........for "honest" CHANGE !!! ...................for "smart" CHANGE !!! - Reply to this comment
- This Idiot ( Obama) is still topic of conversation? Geesh. Doesn''t the media understand how foolish they will look when this incompetent person embaresses them after they have spent endless hours talking about him? They will.
- Reply to this comment
- The republican brand is damage if not destroyed.
The party that was known for fiscal responsibility and small government has changed to the party of fiscal irresponsibility and a government that is broken.
The Neo-Conservatives that took over the party and transformed it with various accounts of corruption and sexual depravity has turn off many republicans and independents.
That is why you see real republican like Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul and Bob Barr speaking out and running against theses right-wing nut jobs.
The state of Illinois who had a long list of Republican governors worked with the Democratics in Chicago/Cook county "The Machine" to get things done for the people.
The fall of the republican brand in Illinois due to high ranking corrupted state elected republican is one of the reasons why Barack Obama is where he is today.
The saddest part of this whole cycle is the fact that these Neo-Cons have nothing to say as to why you should vote for McCain so they will throw everything they can think of as to why you should not vote for Obama. They are desperate and sad. - Reply to this comment
- "1. Redistribute the country''''s wealth - Marxism 101
2. Grow the size of the government - Create new departments dedicated to supporting Item 1
3. Blame greedy American corporations for the pains of the US and the rest of the world
4 Increase taxes on those already paying the largest percentage and total amount. The top 1% already pay 39% of all taxes.
5 Nationalize healthcare" Posted by obama8years
Sounds good, we should have done that twenty years ago. Better late than never, I suppose. - Reply to this comment
- The proof is in the putting. Putting
troops on a boat and sending them home.
Iraq is a house of cards, cant stand
an ill wind, a chill wind a light breeze
through the trees or a sneeze, , ,
, , ,cant even stand an HONEST withdrawal
of the 30-thousand soldier troop surge.
Bush isn''t a lame duck president only
because a crazed man is never irrelevant.
And McCain? Well here:
The interminable wait had most of the
Town Hall Meeting head out to the buffet
but still return in time to see John and
Leiberman break off their whispering and
nodding and whispering session and hear
John say: , , ,
"PARDON ME,,,Psssst, Joe, how''s that again? - Reply to this comment
- Somebody I don''t care who needs to address the health care issue. Congress hasn''t done a GD thing, Hillary''s out, Obama is vague, and McCain hasn''t hammered out how his plan will benefit lower middle class. So here we are paying 10,20,30% more every year and many many going bankrupt. And I''m not talking about the poor the poor are already covered by medicaid, and I''m not talking about the working poor they too are covered by S-chip and state programs, I''m talking joe and jane sixpack. Congress once again is alseep at the wheel doing absolutely nothing to address affordability. Even a frigging govt. backed loan program to save people from financial disaster would be huge. 20% co-insurance of 100K or 200K is a lot of money. How about a LOAN congress.
- Reply to this comment
- 4 Increase taxes on those already paying the largest percentage and total amount. The top 1% already pay 39% of all taxes.
Posted by obama8y,
Is not also true that the top 1% also have 90% of the wealth in the U.S. If that is true then they need to start paying their fair share of the taxes. - Reply to this comment
- OBAMA AND CUBAN PRESIDENT HAVE ALOT IN COMMON.
Posted by obama8years at 06:44 PM : Jul 20, 2008
_________________________
And you and your mama have a lot in common, you''re both idiots! - Reply to this comment
- Obama is a modern-day Marxist.
Castro and Obama share many of the same values and principles for the country''s economy:
1. Redistribute the country''s wealth - Marxism 101
2. Grow the size of the government - Create new departments dedicated to supporting Item 1
3. Blame greedy American corporations for the pains of the US and the rest of the world
4 Increase taxes on those already paying the largest percentage and total amount. The top 1% already pay 39% of all taxes.
5 Nationalize healthcare - Reply to this comment
- Compare Obama and Cuban President...see how much alike..they are.
6 Campaign on a principle based on appealing to the lower income 50% of the US to despise the rich and convince 45% of the other half that their life is miserable so that once convinced of their doom and gloom, they will support the doomsayer and will want bigger government
7. Convince the public, that America is perceived as evil, thus, hated by the rest of the world.
8. Abandon America''s principle of helping the world rid itself of dictatorships, thus, put our weapons down, throw our arms up, and retreat in shame from Iraq.
9. Support dictatorships throughout the world and elevate them to be recognized by the US as worthy leaders that need to be heard without preconditions - legitimize them
10. Grow the support base by expanding the lowest income class in the country by increasing and broadening entitlements; however, add to that the importation of poverty into the United States by giving Amnesty to well over 20 million illegal aliens in the country. Furthermore, promote this policy in order to attract even more illegal immigration prior to the granting of the amnesty in order to achieve the highest number of "new, uneducated, government-dependent poor class", I call the "new poor". - Reply to this comment
- OBAMA AND CUBAN PRESIDENT HAVE ALOT IN COMMON.
11. Dictate to Americans that they should be ashamed for using 25% of the world''s energy while only having 3% of the population and that A/C thermostats in should be set at higher than 72 degrees.
12. Give up America''s sovereignty for the "good of the world" and to save the planet from "global warming" by supporting new treaties on international boundaries, not drilling in ANWR or offshore, but standing by while Castro plans to drill off the Florida coast.
13. Campaigning on a message of "change", because it sounds good.
The list can go on and on, as Castro and Obama share many principles for the formula for a failed state, but one in which the party of the "new poor" remains in power through the growth of government. As this party provides more and more entitlements for its citizens and big government prevails, the country becomes less and less productive. Eventually, America''s economy is no better off than Cuba''s. Therefore, Fidel, go ahead and send Obama that box of Cohibas, for he is a Marxist just like you. - Reply to this comment
- ukgod
You do not live here so you do not know what the real truths are. If we are so stupid then why does so much of he world depend onus for survival ? Including you .It is easy for you to be critical and act like you know what is best. That superior and holier than thouy attitude is why we defeated you to win our independence. - Reply to this comment
- GET A WHITE GUY IN THE PICTURE!! And for goodness sake make sure there are no Muslims in the picture!!
- Reply to this comment
- On NBC News MEET THE PRESS, Sunday, June 19, 2005
Mccain: " . . . the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I''ve been totally in agreement and support of President Bush."
His own words indicate that he agrees with bush on all the important issues, so naturally he would continue bush''s approach to those issues. His campaign co-chair berated America as a nation of whiners about the psychological recession and was responsible for legislation that helped create the mortgage crisis and the Enron loophole for energy speculators. Former family values Senator Graham still didn''t get the axe until his role as a soft-core porn producer came to light.
How many times has mcbush told a reporter that, "I never said that" only to view video of at least one occasion when he said exactly what he had just denied ever saying? He can''t remember important things he says. He gets confused about the Shia and al Qaeda, even with LIEberman whispering in his ear. If he were unfortunate enough to develop Alzheimer''s, how would we tell? - Reply to this comment
- That is why we should be very careful how the media talks, because they are listening all over the world. This election will be very important to this country and the world.
Posted by starleo14672 at 04:23 PM : Jul 20, 2008,,,
A good point! Americans forget this CBS Blog is Worldwide, not just in the U.S. and people are hanging on every word, even the hateful ones! Its amazing to me how an American can be an elected official holding a prestigious high office, decides to run for reelection or another office and be dragged, kicked, and beaten into the dirt during their campaigns only to be rinsed off when the campaign is over and all is forgiven and forgotten! There has to be a better way to elect people! Some people are having wayyyyy too much fun kicking the dirt too! Sheesh - Reply to this comment
- It is just HILARIOUS that the Obama honking media is trying to give Obama credit for Bush''''s negotiations with Malaki....Obama HASN''''T EVEN SPOKEN TO MALAKI YET!!!! What a bunch of krap lies!!!
RowdyWicca at 12:01 PM : Jul 20, 2008
+ re
That is why we should be very careful how the media talks, because they are listening all over the world. This election will be very important to this country and the world. - Reply to this comment
- It''''s the same script I have seen before. And it''''s still amazing many Americans continue to struggle to make up their minds, seemingly jostled this way and that by every breaking political news.
Posted by jon2012 at 12:11 PM : Jul 20, 2008
+ report abu
It is because the republicans believe if you say it enough the people will believe, some will, but they have to bring there game much better this time, I think. We have figured out what liars they are and the truth is not in them,they have only one play book tear them down, make them look bad. I doubt the people will fall for that rhetoric again not after mc Bush''s economy strategy, and he knows nothing except talk about the war, war, war.See how many times he mentions the war. He has 35 years experience to fix this war and what has he done ,nothing, but brag about what he will do same old, same old. - Reply to this comment
- how so?
Posted by ccfsdca at 01:58 PM : Jul 20, 2008
Remember his "high value targets" quote? He''s always been a hawk about Afghanistan, as compared to "i''m not worried about bin laden" w, who put it on the back burner. - Reply to this comment
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
