Barack Obama, Lara Logan CBS Interview: Obama Calls Afghanistan Situation "Precarious And Urgent" (VIDEO)

In his first overseas interview, Barack Obama told CBS News' Lara Logan that the situation in Afghanistan is "precarious and urgent." With violence rising from a resurgent Taliban, Obama stated that two or three more troop brigades need to be moved into the country. Obama also declared his belief that Afghanistan needs to be the "central focus, the central front on the battle against terrorism."

[WATCH]

Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today and pledged continued aid to the country as well as vowing to pursue the war on terror "with vigor."

To see photos and video of Obama's overseas trip so far, click here.

Watch the full interview with CBS News below:

Comments

[rwe2late]

So, the "peace" candidate intends to continue the counter-productive orwellian "war on terror", and to do it with VIGOR !

I guess that means our economy will no longer be getting ruined, nations destroyed, enemies needlessly made, dictatorships supported, elites further enriched, or liberties sacrificed in the hallowed name of endless WAR.

[mjc]

BTW, and this is probably not important, but what the hell does Obama mean about he "expects" to be dealing with Sarkosy and other leaders in the next "eight to ten" years. What happened to the last two years, if that is what he is referring to in re the presidential terms?

[SantaFeStars]

Intelligent post, Georgekaplan! Your comments are right on target!!

[FirstShirt]

Ok, progressives. Note the semantics. Words and phrases like "war on terror" and "vigor" and "precarious and urgent". Sounds down right Kennedyesque before Viet Nam.

Scratch a progressive and you get a neocon in drag. No better and no worse than what we have now. Any president will do what it takes to protect this country no matter the party. Those who think a democrat will be a revolutionary are just spitting in the wind.

[jimdog1954]

"No better and no worse than what we have now." ARE YOU DRUNK?

[FirstShirt]

Point is obviously lost here. If it isn't "change" then it is the same. Am I drunk?, well let's see who is living in neverland:

1. changed on war ---now it's 16 months [ever wonder what is magic about 16 months?]
2. changed on making corporations civilly responsible for breaches of privacy under FISA.
3. Was choice and now has limitations
4. Was going to take federal money under election law and now [when the shoe is on the other foot,] has "changed".

Don't get me wrong, I'm a republican...I like the changes. It is more conservative that many of old Johns waffles. But, don't paint a smiley face on everything that he touches or you are "no better and no worse" than the neocons you have so much fun with.

[marika]

Why adopt the ridiculous slogan "war on terror" repeated endlessly by B/C to impose the idea of some never -ending "war," allowing them to suspend civil liberties , spy on us under the pretense of making us safe and lay the ground-work of a totalitarian state, all for the goal of world hegemony.

They are bleeding us to death, bankrupting the country, turning the American Army into a mercenary task force to protect and control the world oil reserves

Obama should flee the vocabulary used by this criminal administration..

[eden4barack08]

in fact he never said 'war on terror'. Lara did, he didn't.

[mjc]

Obama should flee the policies; however, as we all know by now, Obama has become a younger, more charismatic version of the Bush team. You are so right about bankrupting the country and turning the military into some sort of mercenary force to make nations we don't like do this or that. How sick is it to allow Israel to theaten, rattle its nukes at Arab nations and not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons of its own?

[SilkySoul]

Most here seem to be missing the point.You have 10 to 12 billion dollars a month spent
in Iraq with more than a 100,000 contractors a lot of them non military soldiers of fortune
making over a 100,000 dollars each.Obama is a bean counter because of his wife.He will
reel in this fiesta the neo cons been having on the treasury and focus on Afghanistan.

[ltfcrazy]

For every commenter here who is spewing out talking points that make no sense, be advised: we "librels" know how to read. We are well aware of the situation in Afghanistan and we are well aware of the fact that Ronald Reagan's administration created it long ago. It is time to clean up the mistakes you have all made with your greed and hatred and you cannot stop it.
Please channel your negative energy into doing something useful for a change. Take my word for it, it feels SOOOOOOO good once you get used to it!

[RodgerLodger]

So Reagan caused the problem? And Bush I caused the Saddam Hussein problem? So if your best friend comes at you with a knife, you don't defend yourself because he used to be your friend? Unless Obie can go back in a time travel machine, what is it gonna matter that the US caused today's problems?

[jimdog1954]

It's important that we learn from our past mistakes. This is an alien concept to neocons.

[psgoodguy]

what come to mind is the USSR's total defeat and retreat in afghanistan in the 80's. my questions are: what strategy would he put in place that would necessitate the addition of 1-2 more brigades, what would be their mission, why would our experience and final outcome in afghanistan be different than that of the USSR and, finally, what is your goal there and how are you going to go about a successful implementation of it.

otherwise, it just sounds like pandering the the 'war on "terrorism", tough on national security' vote. we've already fallen headfirst into one bottomless rabbit hole and i would like to hear something other than rhetoric before he takes us down another one.

few people asked the necessary questions before we invaded iraq. i hope this time that the american people will have learned our lessons and step up and participate in his decision to escalate the war in afghanistan.

i will vote for him but i don't have a lot of confidence in his ability to follow through.

[NoMercy]

The war in Afghanistan is a large international coalition. France has recently sent thousands of more troops. This a different war than the USSR's in the 1980s.

[goldenshaman]

No change that matters.

[Einstein44]

Obama looked very poised and presidential during the interview..He needs to keep the flow going all the way to the White House.

[MourningDude]

What happened to 'We need to stop worrying about building up that country over there, and start worrying about building up our country here?'

I guess the US takes second fiddle to Afghanistan now too, eh Barry?

[boogygran]

Barry Schmary - Better start thinking of him as President Obama.

[ladyv]

I don't understand why the trolls like the name Barry so much.

It's not just a completely American sounding name - it also sounds white. The only black guy I can think of named Barry *is* White, in fact. =)

It's not a girly name, so it's not emasculating.

They have a perfectly good foreign sounding name to post - three, in fact - and many of them choose to hit them, yes, but so many choose "Barry," and I don't understand the effect they intend.

[OhMyOhMy]

How can a responsible adult posit an argument that Afghanistan should be ignored? How do you make decisions in your world?
President Obama will assume responsibility for a country as it is and will deal with the problems accordingly - not in a wide-eyed manner but based on a set of principles regarding America's place in the world.
How is that making America taking second place?

[suec03]

Since the Al Qaeda attack on the US on 9-11-2001, no US president will have the option of ignoring Al Qaeda, which has found in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan a base from which it can operate worldwide. That is the only reason that Sen. Obama has to take military steps in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from retaking power because they have shown that they side with Al Qaeda. Like it or not, that currently means shoring up the Afghanistan national government led by Hamid Karzai, to enable that national government to truly govern and maintain security in the entire country of Afghanistan. Iraq is not where the Al Qaeda leadership is based; Afghanistan is. Clearly an Obama administration would have to continuously monitor US spending on shoring up stability in Afghanistan, with clear expectations of the Afghan government, as the US cannot financially afford an open-ended multi-year substantial military presence in Afghanistan.

[SweetSydney]

By Robert Tracinski

"I am quickly coming to the conclusion that all there has ever been to Barack Obama is symbolism and grandiloquent speeches. There is the symbolism of him as the (potential) first black president. And there is his ability to give portentous speeches in high-flown Harvard rhetoric, perfectly pitched to sound thoughtful to college-educated liberals--without actually saying anything.

Here's a tip. When Obama begins a sentence with "As I have said many times," this means that he is about to announce a totally new position that contradicts everything he has said before. For a little reminder of what Obama has actually said about the surge "many times," check out this video clip helpfully posted to YouTube by the Republican National Committee."

[greenmonk]

whatever you're on

can I have some?

[MsLiz]

"... check out this video clip helpfully posted to YouTube by the Republican National Committee." ROTFLMAO! Helpful....Republican National Committee! I can't stop laughing!

Here's a tip: Republican like yourself look at your candidate's flaws, then accuse the opposition of having that flaw.

I love the bit about college educated people being easy to fool, unlike the ignorant masses who voted for George W. Bush! What a crock.

[shockjock]

Another low information voter.

In other words you can't understand WTF he's saying.

[FreeSpeech200854]

LOL.....

[MourningDude]

LOL, after years of bashing the :"War on Terror" as stupid and impossible (how do you fight a tactic?!?), suddenly it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and Barry is a genius for fighting it.

[Kalima]

Thank you O for bringing back the attention to Afghanistan. If there was ever a "war on terror"
it should have started and finished here for sure by now. GB has dropped the ball, far too
many times. With 1 million something names on the terrorist connection list, I would say,
get your s@@t together and start again. I would hazard a guess that more than half of the
people on this list, have nothing to do with terrorism but are strongly opposed to GB.

[BEHM777]

Serious, sober leadership is what we need from a Commander In Chief, not partisan or neocon histrionics. Barack Hussein Obama is up for the job.

BEHusseinM777

[eden4barack08]

I fully CONCUR!