Obama sees new day a year after Bin Laden raid
‘Our goal is to destroy Al Qaida and we are on path to do exactly that'
Kabul: On a swift, secretive trip to the war zone, President Barack Obama declared on Tuesday night that after years of sacrifice the US combat role in Afghanistan is winding down just as it has already ended in Iraq.
"We can see the light of a new day," he said on the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death and in the midst of his own re-election campaign.
"Our goal is to destroy Al Qaida, and we are on a path to do exactly that," Obama said in an unusual speech to America broadcast from an air base halfway around the world.
He spoke after signing an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to cover the decade after the planned final withdrawal of US combat troops in 2014. Obama said American forces will be involved in counter-terrorism and training of the Afghan military, "but we will not build permanent bases in this country, nor will we be patrolling its cities and mountains."
In a blunt reminder of Afghanistan's fragile security situation, a series of explosions and gunfire erupted in Kabul just hours after Obama left, killing at least six people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
The president landed in Bagram in darkness, and his helicopter roared to Kabul for the meeting with Karzai. Later, back at the base, he was surrounded by US troops, shaking every hand. He ended his lightning visit with the speech delivered straight to the television camera — and the voters he was trying to reach back home.
Two armoured troop carriers served as a backdrop, rather than the customary Oval Office tableau.
Light on the horizon
At the air base, Obama said, "This time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end. ... With faith in each other, and our eyes fixed on the future, let us finish the work at hand and forge a just and lasting peace."
Earlier, he delivered a similarly upbeat message to the troops. Noting their sacrifice, he said, "There's a light on the horizon."
It was Obama's fourth trip to Afghanistan, his third as commander in chief. He was less than seven hours on the ground in all. He also visited troops at a hospital at the Bagram base, awarding 10 Purple Hearts.
According to the Pentagon, more than 1,800 American troops have been killed across more than a decade of war in Afghanistan.
