President Obama to give speech from Afghanistan

By Tracy Jan , Globe Staff

WASHINGTON – President Obama flew to Afghanistan for a surprise visit Tuesday that will culminate in a short address this evening during which he is expected to tout a strategic partnership he is signing with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The speech to the American people will be televised live from Bagram Air Base outside Kabul at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Obama is expected to mention the one-year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, according to a White House pool report.

“My fellow Americans, we have traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon,” Obama is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks released by the White House. “We have a clear path to fulfill our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al Qaeda.”

Obama left Andrews Air Force base just after midnight on Tuesday morning and arrived in Bagram under the cover of darkness at 10:20 p.m. He was greeted by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Lieutenant General Curtis Michael Scaparotti, deputy commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, as he deplaned from Air Force One, according to the pool report.

A news embargo imposed by the White House barred journalists traveling in the pool from reporting on the trip until Obama arrived at the Presidential Palace at about 11:30 p.m.

Obama and Karzai signed a 10-page agreement pledging US support for Afghanistan for a decade after 2014, when NATO forces are planning to conclude their combat role. The signing ceremony with the two presidents should paint a tableau of solidarity for an Afghan-US relationship that has been stormy during Obama’s three years in office, the pool report said.

The agreement, 20 months in the making, details how the relationship between the two countries will be normalized as the war winds down, according to the White House.

“Through this agreement, we seek to cement an enduring partnership with Afghanistan that strengthens Afghan sovereignty, stability and prosperity, and that contributes to our shared goal of defeating Al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates,” said a statement from the White House.

Senior administration officials said on a conference call this evening that the trip was driven by the desire of both presidents to sign the agreement in Afghanistan prior to the NATO summit in Chicago later this month.

The agreement outlines how security will transition to Afghan-led forces by 2014, plans for regional stability including the role of Pakistan, and how the Taliban can play a part in rebuilding Afghanistan if they abide by Afghan laws and break from Al Qaeda, said senior administration officials.

After 2014, US troops will have a very narrow mission in Afghanistan: counter terrorism, and the continued training of Afghan forces, administration officials said. But the United States will not seek permanent military bases in Afghanistan, and Afghans will have full responsibility for their country’s security.

The agreement does not commit the United States to any specific troop level or level of funding after 2014 but the United States will seek funding from Congress each year to train and equip Afghan security forces, they said.

Obama, during the signing, called it “a historic moment for our two nations.”

“I’m here to affirm the bond between our two countries and to thank Americans and Afghans who have sacrificed so much over these last ten years,” Obama said.

“Neither Americans nor the Afghan people asked for this war. Yet for a decade, we’ve stood together,” he continued. “Today, with the signing of the strategic partnership agreement we look forward to a future of peace. Today, we’re agreeing to be long-term partners.”

“There will be difficult days ahead,” Obama said. “As we move forward, I’m confident Afghan forces will grow stronger and the Afghan people will take control of their future.”

There were warm handshakes all around. The reportedly mercurial Karzai seemed to be in an ebullient mood and offered profuse thanks to negotiators on the agreement.

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a West Point graduate who serves on the Armed Services Committee, and Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, were also present. Levin called the agreement “a significant step forward for the United States and our national security.”

The unconventional timing of the trip – including the midnight signing ceremony in front of Afghan and US flags – was orchestrated to allow Obama to address Americans during prime-time television, senior administration officials told the pool. The speech is expected to run about 10 minutes.

“As we emerge from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home, it is time to renew America. An America where our children live free from fear, and have the skills to claim their dreams. A united America of grit and resilience, where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown Manhattan, and we build our future as one people, as one nation,” Obama plans to say, according to the prepared remarks.

“This time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end,” he plans to say.

Prior to the address, Obama spoke with US troops stationed at Bagram, using some tough rhetoric.

“We did not choose this war. This war came to us on 9/11,” Obama said, according to the pool report. “We don’t go looking for a fight but when we see our homeland violated, when we see our fellow citizens killed then we understand what we have to do and because of the sacrifices now of a decade—a new greatest generation—not only were we able to blunt the Taliban’s momentum, not only were we able to drive Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan, but slowly and systematically we have been able to decimate the ranks of Al Qaeda and a year ago we were finally able to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.”

The crowd responded with a “Hoo-ah.”

US officials told the pool that security in Afghanistan has improved significantly since the US troop buildup Obama ordered at the end of 2009. But there have been a series of troubling incidents in recent months including riots relating to the Koran burning episode, Afghan-on-US troop violence, and a protracted gun and grenade battle in Kabul’s embassy district just over two weeks ago.