Obama Slips into Afghanistan Unannounced - Raw footage

[tomm2thumbs]

Run time: 00:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMlPmyJSuEM   Posted on YouTube: December 03, 2010 By YouTube Member: AssociatedPress Views on YouTube: 442   Posted on DU: December 04, 2010 By DU Member: tomm2thumbs Views on DU: 477

 
President Barack Obama made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan on Friday, one year after widening an ever deadlier war and just days before a pivotal review about the 9-year-plus conflict.

Link to Brian Williams report from Nightly News which has more details on trip:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/ns/nightly_news/#40499158

added text: AP/yahoo
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_re_as/as_obama/print

In a rousing holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama on Friday told cheering U.S. troops in Afghanistan they're succeeding in their vital mission fighting terrorism. But after he flew in secrecy for 14 hours to get here, foul weather kept him from nearby Kabul and a meeting to address frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Obama's surprise visit to the war zone, his second as president, came 10 days before he is to address the nation about a new review of U.S. strategy to defeat the Taliban and strengthen the Afghan government so American troops can begin leaving next year.

The trip also came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained U.S. relations with Afghanistan because of new and embarrassing leaked cables alleging widespread fraud and underscoring deep American concerns about Karzai.

[Bucky]

1. A slightly different photo op than what the Monkey did

Instead of picking up a fake turkey to show his fake support for the troops, Obama just goes about doing his job. I don't like several things he's doing lately, but it's nice to have a president who works at his job instead of just posing for it.