President Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan on Sunday, his first visit as commander in chief to the site of the war he inherited and has stamped as his own.
Air Force One landed at nighttime at Bagram Air Base after a 13-hour nonstop flight for a visit shrouded in secrecy for security reasons; Mr. Obama quickly boarded a helicopter for the trip to Kabul, landing at the presidential palace for talks with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
General James L. Jones, the National Security adviser, told reporters aboard the flight to Bagram that Mr. Obama would try to make Mr. Karzai “understand that in his second term, there are certain things that have not been paid attention to, almost since day one.” Gen. Jones said those things included “a merit-based system for appointment of key government officials, battling corruption, taking the fight to the narco-traffickers,” which, “provides a lot of the economic engine for the insurgents.”
At the presidential palace, Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai walked and chatted along a red carpet as they made their way to an Afghan color guard, where the national anthems of both countries were played, in a welcoming ceremony that lasted 10 minutes.
White House officials disclosed no information about the trip until Mr. Obama’s plane had landed in Afghanistan, and had even gone so far as to inform reporters that the president would be spending the weekend at Camp David with his family. In fact, Mr. Obama’s trip is occurring during the Afghan night, and he is expected to be on his way back to Washington before most Afghanis wake up Monday morning.
This is a good indicator that Obama's looking to bolster his creds by playing up the Commander-in-Chief role. Of course, he'll never do that as well as President George W. Bush. Indeed, the grunts are still warming up to O-Bambi:
Also, at ABC News, "President Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan to Meet with President Karzai, U.S. Troops: First Trip to Afghanistan for Obama as Commander-in-Chief."
Added: Now a thread a Memeorandum.
HotAirPundit has the video:
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