Obama Talks About What He Learned During His World Trip

Obama Talks About What He Learned During His World Trip

Even if he wins the election this fall, Barack Obama will have a hard time matching the rock-star reception he received in Europe last week. More than 200,000 fans came to hear him speak in Berlin, while heads of state who are more skeptical of the Democratic candidate were still eager to be photographed with him. Obama spoke to NEWSWEEK's Richard Wolffe as his plane neared Paris, one of the last stops on his trip. Excerpts:

Wolffe: Based on what you've seen and heard on this trip, is there anything that has led you to review any policy, tweak things, rethink anything?
Obama: Our success in Afghanistan is going to be deeply dependent not just on getting more troops there, which we need, but also some sustained high-level engagement with Pakistan--something that I discussed before but I think is significantly more urgent than even I had imagined. Basically there doesn't appear to be any pressure at all being placed on Al Qaeda, on these training camps, these safe havens, in the FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas].

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