Obama says US won't quit war in Afghanistan (3rd Roundup)

Mar 28, 2010, 22:14 GMT

Kabul - US President Barack Obama told US soldiers Sunday in Afghanistan that there would be 'difficult days' ahead in Afghanistan but assured them that the 'US does not quit' until the job is done.

The US president made a surprise visit for talks with Afghan officials and to visit US troops, in his first trip to Afghanistan since taking office in January 2009.

Speaking to around 2,000 troops at Bagram airfield, the main US military base north of capital Kabul, Obama said that US forces were in Afghanistan to deny the al-Qaeda network a sanctuary and 'keep them on the run.'

'The United States of America does not quit once we start on something,' Obama told the US soldiers in his speech, which was aired on Afghan TV. 'I am confident that you will get the job done here in Afghanistan.'

The president said that US forces along with other coalition forces would have 'some difficult days ahead, and there will be setbacks,' but vowed: 'We will prevail, and I am absolutely confident of that.'

Obama left Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, and arrived Sunday night in Bagram. He then flew by helicopter to the capital Kabul. During his meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Obama said he was encouraged by progress made in the fight against militants.

'We have seen progress with respect to the military campaign against the extremism in the region,' Obama told reporters in the presidential palace after 30-minute talks with Karzai and key Afghan cabinet members.

However, Obama said that he wanted to see 'more progress in process and production of agriculture, energy production, good governance, rule of law and anti-corruption efforts.'

'All these things resulting in Afghanistan to be more prosperous and more secure, independent, and is not subject to meddling by its neighbors,' he said.

Karzai said that he had productive discussions with the US leader 'about the region and our struggle against extremism and terrorism.'

'Once again I want to express my gratitude to the American people for giving Afghanistan their taxpayers' money for rebuilding and reestablishing better institutions in Afghanistan,' Karzai said.

Obama invited Karzai for a May 12 visit in Washington: 'We intend to have a discussion about our long-term strategic interest between the two countries.'

US forces have been fighting since 2001 in Afghanistan. In December, Obama ordered an extra 30,000 troops to be sent to the country to strengthen the fight against the Taliban insurgency. That would bring the total number of US troops in Afghanistan to 100,000.

Obama was due to stay for just one day, a US embassy official in Kabul said. The US leader previously visited the war-torn country on July 2008, as a senator during the presidential elections in the US.

Relations between Obama and Karzai have been testy. Ties furthered soured after the re-election of Karzai last year, which was overshadowed by allegations of widespread vote-rigging.

'We plan to engage President Karzai,' security advisor James Jones told journalists during the flight to Afghanistan, 'to make him understand that in his second term there are certain things that have not been paid attention to, almost since day one.

'That is things like a merit-based system for appointment of key government officials, battling corruption, taking the fight to the narco-traffickers, which ... provides a lot of the economic engine for the insurgents.'

Obama hailed the recent military success of US and coalition forces in Marjah, a district in southern province of Helmand, where the combined forces pushed the Taliban militants from one of their main bastions in the region.

Some 15,000 Afghan forces, US Marines and British soldiers took part last month in the Marjah operation, which was the biggest since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Afghan and US officials have said that the Marjah offensive was a prelude to a larger military push against the Taliban in neighbouring Kandahar province, which was once the main strongholds for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

By autumn, the total number of international forces is expected to reach up to 150,000 troops, the most since the start of the military campaign more than eight years ago.

Obama said that one of the 'main reasons I'm here is to just say thank you for the incredible efforts of our US troops and our coalition partners.'

'They make tremendous sacrifices far away from home,' he said, 'and I want to make sure they know how proud their commander-in-chief is of them.'