On the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death, President Obama traveled to Afghanistan to sign a "Strategic Partnership Agreement." The agreement clears the way for U.S. an NATO withdrawal in 2014. After the official signing of the treaty, President Obama addressed both the Afghan and American people.
Full Text of the President's Speech:
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
On the Way Forward in Afghanistan
Washington, D.C.
June 22, 2011
Good evening. Nearly ten years ago, America suffered the worst attack
on our shores since Pearl Harbor. This mass murder was planned by Osama
bin Laden and his al Qaeda network in Afghanistan, and signaled a new
threat to our security – one in which the targets were no longer
soldiers on a battlefield, but innocent men, women and children going
about their daily lives.
In the days that followed, our nation was united as we struck at al
Qaeda and routed the Taliban in Afghanistan. Then, our focus shifted. A
second war was launched in Iraq, and we spent enormous blood and
treasure to support a new government there. By the time I took office,
the war in Afghanistan had entered its seventh year. But al Qaeda’s
leaders had escaped into Pakistan and were plotting new attacks, while
the Taliban had regrouped and gone on the offensive. Without a new
strategy and decisive action, our military commanders warned that we
could face a resurgent al Qaeda, and a Taliban taking over large parts
of Afghanistan.
For this reason, in one of the most difficult decisions that I’ve
made as President, I ordered an additional 30,000 American troops into
Afghanistan. When I announced this surge at West Point, we set clear
objectives: to refocus on al Qaeda; reverse the Taliban’s momentum; and
train Afghan Security Forces to defend their own country. I also made it
clear that our commitment would not be open-ended, and that we would
begin to drawdown our forces this July.
Tonight, I can tell you that we are fulfilling that commitment.
Thanks to our men and women in uniform, our civilian personnel, and our
many coalition partners, we are meeting our goals. As a result, starting
next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from
Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of
33,000 troops by next summer, fully recovering the surge I announced at
West Point. After this initial reduction, our troops will continue
coming home at a steady pace as Afghan Security forces move into the
lead. Our mission will change from combat to support. By 2014, this
process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be
responsible for their own security.
We are starting this drawdown from a position of strength. Al Qaeda
is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. Together with the
Pakistanis, we have taken out more than half of al Qaeda’s leadership.
And thanks to our intelligence professionals and Special Forces, we
killed Osama bin Laden, the only leader that al Qaeda had ever known.
This was a victory for all who have served since 9/11. One soldier
summed it up well. “The message,” he said, “is we don’t forget. You will
be held accountable, no matter how long it takes.”
The information that we recovered from bin Laden’s compound shows al
Qaeda under enormous strain. Bin Laden expressed concern that al Qaeda
has been unable to effectively replace senior terrorists that have been
killed, and that al Qaeda has failed in its effort to portray America as
a nation at war with Islam – thereby draining more widespread support.
Al Qaeda remains dangerous, and we must be vigilant against attacks. But
we have put al Qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until
the job is done.
In Afghanistan, we’ve inflicted serious losses on the Taliban and
taken a number of its strongholds. Along with our surge, our allies also
increased their commitments, which helped stabilize more of the
country. Afghan Security Forces have grown by over 100,000 troops, and
in some provinces and municipalities we have already begun to transition
responsibility for security to the Afghan people. In the face of
violence and intimidation, Afghans are fighting and dying for their
country, establishing local police forces, opening markets and schools,
creating new opportunities for women and girls, and trying to turn the
page on decades of war.
Of course, huge challenges remain. This is the beginning – but not
the end – of our effort to wind down this war. We will have to do the
hard work of keeping the gains that we have made, while we drawdown our
forces and transition responsibility for security to the Afghan
government. And next May, in Chicago, we will host a summit with our
NATO allies and partners to shape the next phase of this transition.
We do know that peace cannot come to a land that has known so much
war without a political settlement. So as we strengthen the Afghan
government and Security Forces, America will join initiatives that
reconcile the Afghan people, including the Taliban. Our position on
these talks is clear: they must be led by the Afghan government, and
those who want to be a part of a peaceful Afghanistan must break from al
Qaeda, abandon violence, and abide by the Afghan Constitution. But, in
part because of our military effort, we have reason to believe that
progress can be made.
The goal that we seek is achievable, and can be expressed simply: no
safe-haven from which al Qaeda or its affiliates can launch attacks
against our homeland, or our allies. We will not try to make Afghanistan
a perfect place. We will not police its streets or patrol its mountains
indefinitely. That is the responsibility of the Afghan government,
which must step up its ability to protect its people; and move from an
economy shaped by war to one that can sustain a lasting peace. What we
can do, and will do, is build a partnership with the Afghan people that
endures – one that ensures that we will be able to continue targeting
terrorists and supporting a sovereign Afghan government.
Of course, our efforts must also address terrorist safe-havens in
Pakistan. No country is more endangered by the presence of violent
extremists, which is why we will continue to press Pakistan to expand
its participation in securing a more peaceful future for this war-torn
region. We will work with the Pakistani government to root out the
cancer of violent extremism, and we will insist that it keep its
commitments. For there should be no doubt that so long as I am
President, the United States will never tolerate a safe-haven for those
who aim to kill us: they cannot elude us, nor escape the justice they
deserve.
My fellow Americans, this has been a difficult decade for our
country. We have learned anew the profound cost of war -- a cost that
has been paid by the nearly 4500 Americans who have given their lives in
Iraq, and the over 1500 who have done so in Afghanistan – men and women
who will not live to enjoy the freedom that they defended. Thousands
more have been wounded. Some have lost limbs on the field of battle, and
others still battle the demons that have followed them home.
Yet tonight, we take comfort in knowing that the tide of war is
receding. Fewer of our sons and daughters are serving in harm’s way. We
have ended our combat mission in Iraq, with 100,000 American troops
already out of that country. And even as there will be dark days ahead
in Afghanistan, the light of a secure peace can be seen in the distance.
These long wars will come to a responsible end.
As they do, we must learn their lessons. Already this decade of war
has caused many to question the nature of America’s engagement around
the world. Some would have America retreat from our responsibility as an
anchor of global security, and embrace an isolation that ignores the
very real threats that we face. Others would have America over-extend
ourselves, confronting every evil that can be found abroad.
We must chart a more centered course. Like generations before, we
must embrace America’s singular role in the course of human events. But
we must be as pragmatic as we are passionate; as strategic as we are
resolute. When threatened, we must respond with force – but when that
force can be targeted, we need not deploy large armies overseas. When
innocents are being slaughtered and global security endangered, we don’t
have to choose between standing idly by or acting on our own. Instead,
we must rally international action, which we are doing in Libya, where
we do not have a single soldier on the ground, but are supporting allies
in protecting the Libyan people and giving them the chance to determine
their destiny.
In all that we do, we must remember that what sets America apart is
not solely our power – it is the principles upon which our union was
founded. We are a nation that brings our enemies to justice while
adhering to the rule of law, and respecting the rights of all our
citizens. We protect our own freedom and prosperity by extending it to
others. We stand not for empire, but for self-determination. That is why
we have a stake in the democratic aspirations that are now washing
across the Arab World. We will support those revolutions with fidelity
to our ideals, with the power of our example, and with an unwavering
belief that all human beings deserve to live with freedom and dignity.
Above all, we are a nation whose strength abroad has been anchored in
opportunity for our citizens at home. Over the last decade, we have
spent a trillion dollars on war, at a time of rising debt and hard
economic times. Now, we must invest in America’s greatest resource – our
people. We must unleash innovation that creates new jobs and industry,
while living within our means. We must rebuild our infrastructure and
find new and clean sources of energy. And most of all, after a decade of
passionate debate, we must recapture the common purpose that we shared
at the beginning of this time of war. For our nation draws strength from
our differences, and when our union is strong no hill is too steep and
no horizon is beyond our reach.
America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home.
In this effort, we draw inspiration from our fellow Americans who
have sacrificed so much on our behalf. To our troops, our veterans and
their families, I speak for all Americans when I say that we will keep
our sacred trust with you, and provide you with the care, and benefits,
and opportunity that you deserve.
I met some of those patriotic Americans at Fort Campbell. A while
back, I spoke to the 101st Airborne that has fought to turn the tide in
Afghanistan, and to the team that took out Osama bin Laden. Standing in
front of a model of bin Laden’s compound, the Navy SEAL who led that
effort paid tribute to those who had been lost – brothers and sisters in
arms whose names are now written on bases where our troops stand guard
overseas, and on headstones in quiet corners of our country where their
memory will never be forgotten. This officer - like so many others I
have met with on bases, in Baghdad and Bagram, at Walter Reed and
Bethesda Naval Hospital – spoke with humility about how his unit worked
together as one – depending on each other, and trusting one another, as a
family might do in a time of peril.
That’s a lesson worth remembering – that we are all a part of one
American family. Though we have known disagreement and division, we are
bound together by the creed that is written into our founding documents,
and a conviction that the United States of America is a country that
can achieve whatever it sets out to accomplish. Now, let us finish the
work at hand. Let us responsibly end these wars, and reclaim the
American Dream that is at the center of our story. With confidence in
our cause; with faith in our fellow citizens; and with hope in our
hearts, let us go about the work of extending the promise of America –
for this generation, and the next. May God bless our troops. And may God
bless the United States of America.
