Spring Break
Obama praises Afghan, Pakistan commitments
Associated Press
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: News
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama declared he got the commitments he wanted Wednesday from the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to more aggressively fight Taliban and al-Qaida militants who are gaining power and sowing violence in their countries.
"I'm pleased that these two men, elected leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, fully appreciate the seriousness of the threats that we face and have reaffirmed their commitment to confronting it," Obama said at the White House.
The presidents of the two countries stood at his side after a day of joint meetings. Obama is sending 21,000 fresh U.S. troops into Afghanistan to help with the anti-terror war.
The high-stakes diplomacy had Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari meeting with U.S. officials separately and together, first at the State Department and then at the White House. Looming over the sessions was a bombing on Monday in Afghanistan that officials there said killed dozens of civilians and for which the Obama administration apologized.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Karzai that the Obama administration "deeply, deeply" regretted the loss of civilian lives. When Obama went before the cameras, he pledged his administration would "make every effort to avoid civilian casualties" in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, where U.S. airstrikes have stoked anti-American sentiment.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. forces commander said it wasn't a certainty that the deaths happened as a result of U.S. military action. Gen. David McKiernan said American forces came to the aid of Afghans who may have been ambushed by the Taliban in Farah province on Sunday. He said the Taliban beheaded three civilians, perhaps to lure police, and that the United States is working with the Afghans to learn the truth about the incident.
State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Clinton's remarks were offered as a gesture, before all the facts of the incident were known, because "any time there is a loss of innocent life we are going to be concerned about it, and we wanted to make that very clear."
"I'm pleased that these two men, elected leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, fully appreciate the seriousness of the threats that we face and have reaffirmed their commitment to confronting it," Obama said at the White House.
The presidents of the two countries stood at his side after a day of joint meetings. Obama is sending 21,000 fresh U.S. troops into Afghanistan to help with the anti-terror war.
The high-stakes diplomacy had Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari meeting with U.S. officials separately and together, first at the State Department and then at the White House. Looming over the sessions was a bombing on Monday in Afghanistan that officials there said killed dozens of civilians and for which the Obama administration apologized.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Karzai that the Obama administration "deeply, deeply" regretted the loss of civilian lives. When Obama went before the cameras, he pledged his administration would "make every effort to avoid civilian casualties" in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, where U.S. airstrikes have stoked anti-American sentiment.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. forces commander said it wasn't a certainty that the deaths happened as a result of U.S. military action. Gen. David McKiernan said American forces came to the aid of Afghans who may have been ambushed by the Taliban in Farah province on Sunday. He said the Taliban beheaded three civilians, perhaps to lure police, and that the United States is working with the Afghans to learn the truth about the incident.
State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Clinton's remarks were offered as a gesture, before all the facts of the incident were known, because "any time there is a loss of innocent life we are going to be concerned about it, and we wanted to make that very clear."
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