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December 3, 2010 11:17 AM
Obama Makes Surprise Trip to Afghanistan
Posted by Brian Montopoli



President Barack Obama is greeted by NATOCommander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus, left, and US Ambassadorto Afghanistan Karl W. Elkenberry, after stepping off Air Force Oneduring an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Friday,Dec. 3, 2010. (Credit:AP)


Updated 12:35 p.m. Eastern Time

President Obama has made a surprise visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in the midst of a worsening jobs picture and a fight over extending the Bush tax cuts at home.

His high-security visit to the embattled and dangerous country, which following a secret overnight flight, was kept quiet until now under White House rules.

It is his second trip to Afghanistan as commander in chief. He was greeted by top Afghan commander Gen. David Petreaus and U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry as he stepped off Air Force One.

The trip comes amid a review of the conflict, which is now in its ninth year. The review is not expected to result in a change in the U.S. strategy in the war despite a number of setbacks in 2010, among them revelations that the United States had been paying and negotiating for peace with a Taliban representative who is likely an impostor.

There have been 467 American troops killed so far in Afghanistan this year, the highest number for any year in the conflict up to now. The White House has its eye on 2014 as a possible date to end combat operations and next summer as the beginning of the wind-down period.

The president made the trip primarily to meet with and thank members of the military, according to the White House. He is scheduled to spend three hours at Bagram. After meeting with Petreaus and Eikenberry, he plans to visit with eight patients at a hospital on the base -- five soldiers and three civilian contractors.

He will award five Purple Hearts during that visit, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. The president is also scheduled to make a speech to troops before his return to Washington.



President Barack Obama is greeted by NATOCommander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus, left, and US Ambassadorto Afghanistan Karl W. Elkenberry, center, after stepping off Air ForceOne during an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. (Credit:AP)

The trip comes in the wake of the release of secret diplomatic cables that described out-of-control corruption and bribery in the country.

The leaks, from the group WikiLeaks, described the country as "a looking-glass land where bribery, extortion and embezzlement are the norm and the honest official is a distinct outlier," as the New York Times reported Friday.

The president will speak over secure videoteleconference with Afghan President Karzai from Bagram. A planned face-to-face meeting at Karzai's palace in Kabul has been canceled because bad weather is keeping the president from traveling to the Afghan capitol. Gibbs said high winds and low visibility made the trip to Kabul "not an option."

Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes told reporters planning for the trip began a month ago, and was designed in part to wish happy holidays to members of the military. He said this is a "particularly tough time of the year" for service-members and their families and that the president wanted to "underscore" the sacrifice they are making.

"While it would have been nice to share a meal, I think President Karzai understood that the purpose of this was really for the President to spend time with the troops," Rhodes said.

The audience for the president's speech will be largely made up of members of the 101st Airborne Division, which is on its 4th combat deployment. A rock band from the division played songs by Metallica, Blink 182, Oasis and other groups before the president was set to speak. Troops also sang a portion of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Mr. Obama last visited Afghanistan in March, at which time he pressed Karzai on corruption in his administration. The two men met face-to-face less than two weeks ago at a NATO summit in Lisbon. Karzai has complained angrily in recent weeks about U.S. military tactics, specifically special operations raids designed to root out insurgents, amid heightened tensions between his administration and its U.S. counterpart.

In the WikiLeaks cables, Karzai was described as an "erratic" leader who was "indecisive and unprepared" and a less-than-reliable partner.

Roughly one year ago, Mr. Obama ordered an increase in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to about 100,000, tripling the U.S. presence in the country from when he took office.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20024543-503544.html

The president visits the troops in Afghanistan; finally a worthwhile trip. xD

Obama Eyes Internet ID for All Americans

Government monitoring of what Americans are doing in cyberspace has
moved a bit closer to reality, as President Barack Obama announces
plans to hand over authority to create an Internet ID for all Americans
to the U.S. Commerce Department, a White House official tells CBS News.

The
plan, touted as the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in
Cyberspace, is raising eyebrows about privacy issues over concerns that
creating a centralized database is an infringement on Americans’
rights. It is expected to be released in the next several months.

Calling it an “absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to create
an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity
Coordinator Howard Schmidt said Friday during a business and academics
forum at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research that
issuing digital identities for web usage to all Americans will reduce
cybersecurity vulnerabilities and improve online privacy protections.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke agrees. "We are not talking about a
national ID card,” Locke said at the Stanford forum. “We are not
talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about
is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even
eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation
and use of more trusted digital identities."

Schmidt added that his office will work with the Department of Homeland
Security and the General Services Administration to implement the
Internet ID strategy.



© Newsmax. All rights reserved.


http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Obama-Internet-ID-Americans/2011/01/10/id/382368?s=al&promo_code=B6F0-1

And so it begins. *sighs Makes you wonder how far this guy will push and still get away with it.

Forgiveness_Man wrote:

And so it begins. *sighs Makes you wonder how far this guy will push and still get away with it.

If the guy in office before him is any indication I'd say 8 years.

JM130ELM wrote:

Forgiveness_Man wrote:

And so it begins. *sighs Makes you wonder how far this guy will push and still get away with it.

If the guy in office before him is any indication I'd say 8 years.

Only if the GOP puts up an old guy in 2012.

Shale wrote:

So, my Internet ID would be in the name of Shale Stone? Will I have one for all the 8 other Earthlink identities I have? Will it make it easier for ppl to track it to my real name?

I mean Shale not only is a member of forum boards which he shares with friends who know him, but he is a member of several adult sites that some friends and family may not want to know about. I know my IP can be traced back to the real Wizard behind the curtain, but I just don't want everyone in the world doing it routinely.

Same!

The fuck is this? Not feeling it. Can't they already come after you from your IP address if they find you online doing/saying some bullshit? Come on Obama......you starting to piss me off now.

*sits back and watches

The way I read it is their gonna spend a few hundred million dollars so I don't have to type my password all the time. Don't they have more important things to do? This isn't going to bode well at all, and I hope one of his advisers is able to get him to nix the whole plan.

^^^^A few hundred million? Ah that's nothing. It's not like it's coming out of his pocket anyway.

Your Midway Report Card on President Obama

As much as many have complained about President Obama, I am giving the president a mid to high "B". The president and his administration have made a serious effort to reduce nuclear weapons, provided children with health care (a necessity), essentially ended combat in Iraq, repealed DADT, made inroads towards equal pay for women with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and settled a decades old lawsuit with African and Native American farmers.

I have been greatly disappointed with his willingness to compromise with people that have no ideas. From putting tax cuts in the stimulus to leaving out a public option in health care reform. I'm disappointed too that Guantanamo Bay is still open however I am aware that detainees' home countries aren't willing to take them back. Slovenia, for example, needed a bribe to take its one detainee.

At times it feels as if President Obama has forgotten his base. I imagine this is part of a long term strategy of staying more towards the middle for the 2012 election. This would make it more difficult for the GOP to paint him as an extremist.

In the future, I'd like to see a real effort at ending the genocide in Sudan, pressuring Israel to take meaningful steps to end its conflict with the Palestinians, challenging China and Germany's dominance in the solar energy industry and a willingness to fully embrace liberal economics where the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.

President Obama would do himself and the country good if he started dispelling myths many Americans believe. Such as cutting taxes and reducing the deficit.

I give him a B. For the most part I'm satisfied with him. Not amazed, but satisfied.

Considering all he managed to get done with the Republican opposition, I give him a B as well.

I give Obama a C+.

I won't go a B because he's been ball-less in dealing with Senator Spineless, a.k.a. Reid, in getting things moving. I won't go an A because of the two piles of crap he threw into SCOTUS slots.

At this point, I'd give him a B as well.

I would like to see him as an executive rather than legislator.

The one good thing is that he gets the opportunity to actively fight his opponents in Congress for the next two years.

I'll give him a B-. Because I know he's trying and he's doing a lot better than people give him credit for. However, I don't like how soft he's been in trying to get shit done. And he really pissed me off with extending those Bush tax cuts. As a matter of fact, I'm giving him C. Obama really took a hit from me with that one.

I give him a very predictable F. I am not a bit disappointed in him. He is every bit the dope I knew he'd be. There's not really anything political that's happened these past two years that I didn't see coming. I wish nothing but good things for Mr. Obama though. That is why I want him as a regular citizen again.

Nystyle709 wrote:

I'll give him a B-. Because I know he's trying and he's doing a lot better than people give him credit for. However, I don't like how soft he's been in trying to get shit done. And he really pissed me off with extending those Bush tax cuts. As a matter of fact, I'm giving him C. Obama really took a hit from me with that one.

Yup my only beef with Obama is how he been treading all lite to not affront this sect and that one. He trying to be too user friendly and not rock too many boats and its making him look weak, but if he got in there and threw his weight around they would bitch about that too. Black man in office is gonna have his naysayers hating no matter how he act, so he might as well go hard and let the results speak for themselves. His job (when you LOOK at what he done) has been a real solid one.

I'd probably have to go with about a C+. As president he has to be willing to rock the boat & not compromise so easily. I appreciate DADT repeal finally happened but it took way too long. And gay marriage isn't making nearly enough progress. Add the Bush tax cuts & folding on the public option in health care reform I can't really go much higher. At the same time he is without question better than the alternative we were very lucky to dodge.

I'll go C+ to B- for many of the reasons already given. I'll go higher when he gets us out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

He's done okay. I'd give him a B-/C+

Kudos for the Start treaty. Obama is pushing a moderate agenda, and that is how you reach a consensus and how things move forward. Consider that the two polar political extremes will not agree, and we get government paralysis as a result.

Like all things in life…moderation is best.

Do you believe that Obama is a socialist? Three years later, some people are still convinced that Obama is a socialist. Do you believe that he is, and if you don't, why do you think he's perceived as such?

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Do you believe that Obama is a socialist? Three years later, some people are still convinced that Obama is a socialist. Do you believe that he is, and if you don't, why do you think he's perceived as such?

Still waiting to hear why he isn't.