The article made it sound like this visit took place a week ago but I'm pretty sure that it happened this weekend. Anyway, the point is President Obama made a surprise visit to a gathering of troops in a hangar at Bagram Airfield. He gave a speech to the troops and thanked them for their service. He even took Brad Paisley with him and the country singer performed at the event. I guess this surprised me because one of the main reasons I know who Brad Paisley is, is his song "Accidental Racist". You'd think that would have some implications as far as working with the President goes but I'm glad it doesn't. On the flip the singer is an example of the all American country singer, which is probably why he was chosen for this event. What was most interesting about this event is that Mr. Obama did not meet with Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai. This makes me wonder if the President or any U.S. presence is welcome in the country. I know that Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai have had disagreements in the past so I guess this isn't surprising Of course, it could have been the case that the Afghan leader was just busy that day, but the article also talked about how there are elections soon and there is a pretty good chance for some new leadership to take office. I wonder if the other candidates have a more open mind to U.S. presence in their country because from the sounds of it the President doesn't plan on leaving soon. The president said in his speech that, “America’s war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end.” among other motivational statements. I hope that this is true and that it is better than withdrawing all troops. The article also outlined the problems the president is having defining foreign policy in a number of countries. I'm hoping that America can find a way to figure some of this stuff out.
You can find the article here.
Katie Krupica
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