Political Ruminations

Morning Quote: Leon Panetta Warning to Pakistan

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns Pakistan to quit harboring terrorists:

“ It is difficult to achieve peace in Afghanistan as long as there is safe haven for terrorists in Pakistan. It is very important for Pakistan to take steps. It is an increasing concern, the issue of safe haven, and we are reaching the limits of our patience. ”

This has become an increasingly important issue in Afghanistan as the terrorists attack our forces and then run over the border to Pakistan. Reuters:

He was speaking in the Afghan capital Kabul where he held talks with military leaders amid rising violence in the war against the Taliban.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also implicitly defended Washington's use of drone strikes against suspected militants, just days after one of them killed Abu Yahya al-Libi, al Qaeda's second-ranking leader, in northwest Pakistan.

"We will always maintain our right to use force against groups such as al Qaeda that have attacked us and still threaten us with imminent attack," Clinton said in Istanbul at a meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, a U.S.-and Turkish-chaired group.

Pakistan has termed the attacks as illegal and a violation of its sovereignty. The United States has long pushed Islamabad to do more to help in the war against militancy.

Panetta urged Pakistan to go after the Haqqani militant network, one of the United States' most feared enemies in Afghanistan, and said Washington would exert diplomatic pressure and take any other steps needed to protect its forces.

UPDATED: Video & Full Text Transcript of President Obama’s Remarks in Columbus, Ohio on May 5, 2012

Watch a fired up President Obama in Ohio for the first 2012 campaign rally and/or read the full text transcript below:

FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT
President Obama Remarks in Columbus, Ohio, May 5, 2012

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PRESIDENT OBAMA: I want to thank so many of our Neighborhood Team Leaders for being here today.  You guys will be the backbone of this campaign.  And I want the rest of you to join a team or become a leader yourself, because we are going to win this thing the old-fashioned way -- door by door, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Ohio, four years ago, you and I began a journey together.

I didn’t run, and you didn’t work your hearts out, just to win an election.  We came together to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth.

The End of Combat in Afghanistan

I missed this news yesterday, but it seems to me to be important to take note.

The war in Afghanistan is being brought to an end earlier than was scheduled, with the US combat role ending in mid-2013.

The US plans to wind down its war in Afghanistan a year or more earlier than scheduled by ending its combat role in the second half of 2013.

Defence secretary Leon Panetta said no decision has been made on how quickly to draw down American and other Nato forces, but that the shift away from fighting is being brought forward. At the same time, Nato is considering reducing the planned size of the Afghan army because of the cost involved.

"Hopefully by mid to the latter part of 2013 we'll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise and assist role," Panetta said.

Full Text Transcript President Obama Press Conference

Watch the full video of the press conference here.

TRANSCRIPT PRESIDENT OBAMA PRESS CONFERENCE JUNE 29, 2011

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Good morning, everybody.  Have a seat, please.  I just want to say a few words about the economy before I take your questions.

There are a lot of folks out there who are still struggling with the effects of the recession.  Many people are still looking for work or looking for a job that pays more.  Families are wondering how they'd deal with a broken refrigerator or a busted transmission, or how they're going to finance their kids' college education, and they're also worrying about the possibility of layoffs.   

The struggles of middle-class families were a big problem long before the recession hit in 2007.  They weren’t created overnight, and the truth is our economic challenges are not going to be solved overnight.  But there are more steps that we can take right now that would help businesses create jobs here in America. 

Video and Text Transcript: Obama’s Promise to Kill Bin Laden in 2008

Then Sen. Obama nails McCain in this debate on October 7, 2008. The relevant portion is bolded in the text below.

Watch:

BROKAW: Sen. McCain, thank you very much.

Next question for Sen. Obama, it comes from the F section and is from Katie Hamm (ph). Katie?

QUESTION: Should the United States respect Pakistani sovereignty and not pursue al Qaeda terrorists who maintain bases there, or should we ignore their borders and pursue our enemies like we did in Cambodia during the Vietnam War?

Morning Quote

During his book promo tour last week, George W. Bush made an unsuccessful attempt to defer the blame for the lack of progress in Afghanistan to NATO, rather than to his own administration where that blame very rightfully belongs.

What happened in Afghanistan was that our NATO allies turned out — some of them turned out not to be willing to fight. And therefore, our assumption that we had ample troops, U.S. and NATO troops, turned out to be a not true assumption and so we adjusted. And I completely disagree with the take eye off the ball. I found that to be empty political rhetoric.