February 11, 2009 2:36 PM

Obama: Now Is The Time For Iraq Withdrawal

By
Lara Logan
(CBS)  Senator Barack Obama spent his first day in Afghanistan yesterday visiting the troops, talking to soldiers, and speaking with their commanders. Today he met privately with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.

After talking to both sides, his assessment is that the situation in Afghanistan is both precarious and urgent. He said that the U.S. has to start planning to put more troops in Afghanistan now.

The following is a transcript of an exclusive interview with the Democratic presidential candidate, who told CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan that U.S. troop levels have to increase.


Obama: "For at least a year now, I have called for two additional brigades, perhaps three," he said. "I think it's very important that we unify command more effectively to coordinate our military activities. But military alone is not going to be enough.

"The Afghan government needs to do more. But we have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan. And I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front, on our battle against terrorism."

Logan: "Why does it have to be the central focus? What is so critical to U.S. interests here?"

Obama: "This is where they can plan attacks. They have sanctuary here. They are gathering huge amounts of money as a consequence of the drug trade in the region. And so that global network is centered in this area. And I think one of the biggest mistakes we've made strategically after 9/11 was to fail to finish the job here, focus our attention here. We got distracted by Iraq.

"And despite what the Bush Administration has argued, I don't think there's any doubt that we were distracted from our efforts not only to hunt down al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but also to rebuild this country so that people have confidence that we were to here to stay over the long haul, that we were going to rebuild roads, provide electricity, improve the quality of life for people. And now we have a chance, I think, to correct some of those areas.

"There's starting to be a broad consensus that it's time for us to withdraw some of our combat troops out of Iraq, deploy them here in Afghanistan. And I think we have to seize that opportunity. Now's the time for us to do it.

"I think what's important for us to do is to begin planning for those brigades now. If we wait until the next administration, it could be a year before we get those additional troops on the ground here in Afghanistan. And I think that would be a mistake. I think the situation is getting urgent enough that we've got to start doing something now.

"The United States has to take a regional approach to the problem. Just as we can't be myopic and focus only on Iraq, we also can't think that we can solve the security problems here in Afghanistan without engaging the Pakistan government."

Logan: "And how do you compel Pakistan to act?"

Obama: "Well, you know, I think that the U.S. government provides an awful lot of aid to Pakistan, provides a lot of military support to Pakistan. And to send a clear message to Pakistan that this is important, to them as well as to us, I think that message has not been sent."

Logan: "Under what circumstances would you authorize unilateral U.S. action against targets inside tribal areas?"

Obama: "What I've said is that if we had actionable intelligence against high-value al-Qaeda targets, and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets, that we should. My hope is that it doesn't come to that - that in fact, the Pakistan government would recognize that if we had Osama bin Laden in our sights that we should fire or we should capture him."

Logan: "Isn't that the case now? I mean, do you really think that if U.S. forces had Osama bin Laden in their sights and the Pakistanis said 'No,' that they wouldn't fire or wouldn't go after him?"

Obama: "I think actually this is current doctrine. There was some dispute when I said this last August. Both the administration and some of my opponents suggested, 'Well, you know, you shouldn't go around saying that.' But I don't think there's any doubt that that should be our policy."

Logan: "But [not going after him] is the current policy."

Obama: "I believe it is the current policy."

Logan: "So there's no change, then?"

Obama: "I don't think there's going to be a change there. I think that in order for us to be successful, it's not going to be enough just to engage in the occasional shot fired. We've got training camps that are growing and multiplying."

Logan: "Would you take out all those training camps?"

Obama: "Well, I think that what we would like to see the Pakistani government take out those training camps."

Logan: "And if they won't?"

Obama: "Well, I think that we've got to work with them so they will."

Logan: "Would you consider unilateral U.S. action?"

Obama: "I will push Pakistan very hard to make sure that we go after those training camps. I think it's absolutely vital to the security interests for both the United States and Pakistan."



Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved.
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by aharris2615 July 22, 2008 5:06 PM EDT
"Rumors circulating...845 Billion to Africa?"
=====
Have integrity and stop repeating the unsubstantiated rumors from your mothership: the RMS Rove Titanic. Nice try by changing the topic. Everyone knows what we''ve actually purchased with the blood of 4000 soldiers and a trillion tax dollars that our grandchildren''s grandchildren will have to pay for. We purchased the deaths of hundreds of thousands Iraqi civilians. We purchased the death of one secular dictator who was replaced by several radical Islamic warlords friendly to Iran. Eventually we purchased a puppet regime that still struggles to find it''s credibility beyond the safety of Bahgdad when we keep refusing it''s sovereignty with our continued endless occupation. The Nuri Al Maliki government smells an awful lot like the Nguyen Van Thieu South Vietmanese government of the early 1970s. Dubya''s Iraq war smells too much like Vietnam. WMDs = Gulf of Tonkin = fictions created to give the illusion of enemy aggression. In both cases, hundreds of thousands noncombatant civilian casualties occurred even with our advanced technology. In both cases, "spreading freedom" was used to describe the effort to the public when in members of the government were telling big businesses that the locations were strategically beneficial for obtaining access to vital resources.

The mission (enriching the lives of the elite few sitting atop the military industrial complex aka RNC insiders) has been accomplished. It''s time to come home.
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by promaclaura July 22, 2008 3:03 PM EDT
patriot12436 Wow, you and your family certainly have earned your right''s as American Citizens. I listen to your word''s and understand where you are coming from. This I can respect, opinions based on the actual experience is what we need more of. Thank you for offsetting the individuals that vent their hate and twist things to continue to feel that hate. People who immerse themselves in self-serving anger get no where fast and always make me wonder how they got to that point. I too do not like some of McCains policies, especially concerning our borders. How will we ever be able to concentrate on protecting our borders if we leave them so porous. Many individuals who do not support the war in Iraq also do not support protecting our borders from illegals. I am willing to give up some of my rights if that means our men and women can stay home. Any tools that we can use to find and deter terror cells here is welcome. We live in a different world today and would rather insure our safety here first, so go ahead and listen in on my phone calls and close the borders. If that is what we need to do to keep our kid''s at home instead of Iraq or Iran, so be it.
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by patriot12436 July 22, 2008 2:33 PM EDT
ProMacLaura
Sorry computer stuck. I am planning to move back to Las Vegas. I lived there before and loved it. Mild winters and hot summers but i prefer heat to cold.
My daughter suffered from over injections from shots from schools. I ended up with $450,000 in doctor bills. She finally out grew it and was just returned from Iraq. She is legally blind, possibly from chemical exposure there. They are still trying to diagnois her but she has already been qualified for disability from ssan. She should be discharged this fall. I am glad she is getting out. I am 100% disabled from Vietnam and my oldest son is 100% disabled from army rangers. I think my family has given enough for our country.
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by patriot12436 July 22, 2008 2:24 PM EDT
ProMacLaura
I am in Thailand now but will be returning to live in Las Vegas to live in September and in time for the elections. I love living here in Thailand. I
Reply to this comment
by patriot12436 July 22, 2008 2:24 PM EDT
ProMacLaura
I am in Thailand now but will be returning to live in Las Vegas to live in September and in time for the elections. I love living here in Thailand. I
Reply to this comment
by patriot12436 July 22, 2008 2:24 PM EDT
ProMacLaura
I am in Thailand now but will be returning to live in Las Vegas to live in September and in time for the elections. I love living here in Thailand. I
Reply to this comment
by patriot12436 July 22, 2008 2:22 PM EDT
proMacLaura
I do not hate bush but i do hope he is tried for war crimes and his assets are impounded and returned tothe treasury. I do not trust obama and do not believe he has good intentions for our country. I do not like to continue the war in Iraq so i disagree with McCain , but i respect him for his record. People say he graduted in the lower portion of his class at the academy, so what, someone has to graduate there. I think just to graduate the academy was an honor. I think McCain is as loyal to our contry as i am, although i disagree with some of his plans, like ammenesty for illegals, and continueing the war in Iraq. We should never have invaded Iraq. It was an internal problem the Iraqui people should have dealt with. They have been fighting for hundreds of years and will continue after we leave. I to if have to choose between obama and mccain will vote mccai.
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by andylance1 July 22, 2008 2:06 PM EDT
It looks like Obama is advocating war with Pakistan again: "I will push Pakistan very hard..."

It will be a case of Br''er Obama and the Tar-Baby. If Obama gets belligerent with Pakistan - it will become a problem that gets worse and worse the more he struggles with it. Unlike Iran, these dudes already have nukes.
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by promaclaura July 22, 2008 1:00 PM EDT
patriot12436-Thank you for your kind words about my son. Pertaining to your fear for our country and civil war (which is not silly) I agree with you. People are out of hand in the finger-pointing and hate spewing. It is accomplishing nothing but two sides that won''t listen to each other. I voted for Ross Perot the 1st time around and still listen to all candidates that come forward. I like the candidates that tell it how it is, even if they will lose potential voters. The candidates that tell everyone what they want to hear, I''m leary of. So, from the choices we have I will vote for McCain, he has made his platform and chose some very unpopular stances not because he''s stupid but because he believes them. I like Barack''s speeches, but he tells different audiences opposite things to insure their vote and I don''t respect that (nor do I respect his personal affiliations). I know that you do not like either and I hope one day 3rd party candidates have stronger opportunities to win, not insure a victory for Dems or Reps.
Reply to this comment
by promaclaura July 22, 2008 12:40 PM EDT
Posted by komoncents at 12:15 AM : Jul 22, 2008
Your''e still not listening, I''m posting my views not based on my support of President Bush, but my own beliefs which were BEFORE GW went into Iraq. I wanted Saddam removed BEFORE, BEFORE, BEFORE. So your logic that I''m blindly following a liar is nil. What''s funny is I came to my opinion about Saddam from the CBS evening news, 60 minutes and the Clinton Administration (these were my news sources)! The constant news about Saddam, similar to news about Iran today, convinced me he and his government were a nasty lot that killed thousands of his own (the Iraq''s believe he killed close to a million). Also, your fact-finding I''m sure is from the internet where many people constrew opinion with fact. Millions killed by US servicemen, please, they are the one''s killing each other. So your high number quotient placed on our servicemen are just plain wrong. We''ve been the police force protecting them from each other and foreign terrorists. The innocent were killed, it''s to bad that their honorable (ya right) men hid amoungst them and made them the targets. I think that you should take a course in Economics, then you would understand the concept of supply and demand for oil (it''s simple really, 3rd world countries are industrialized now and we are competing with them, that''s called demand, the oil emirates are not producing enough that is the supply). YOUR HATRED OF OUR PRESIDENT IS BLINDING YOU
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