When I first spoke at West Point in 2009, we still had more than 100,000
troops in Iraq. We were preparing to surge in Afghanistan. Our
counterterrorism efforts were focused on al-Qaida’s core leadership --
those who had carried out the 9/11 attacks. And our nation was just
beginning a long climb out of the worst economic crisis since the Great
Depression.
So, true.
Four and a half years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. We have removed our troops from Iraq. We are winding down our war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida’s leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated, and Osama bin Laden is no more. (Cheers, applause.) And through it all, we’ve refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of American strength: a growing economy that can provide opportunity for everybody who’s willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home.
Do, tell.
The CIA's targeted killing program in Pakistan,(click here) once the mainstay of President Barack Obama's counterterrorism effort, is winding down.
U.S. officials won't go that far, but Obama announced this week a plan
to pull nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of
2016. The targeted killing program in Pakistan relies on drones flown
from, and intelligence gathered in, U.S. bases in Afghanistan that would
then be closed....
29 May 2014
KARACHI: A Pakistani court (click here) on Thursday reserved judgment on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's application to have a travel ban on him lifted, his lawyer said.
The 70-year-old, who flew to Karachi last month to undergo medical tests, has been waiting for a decision on his application for over a month.
He says he wants the travel ban lifted so he can visit his sick mother in Dubai, but many in Pakistan see it as a ruse to flee the country and avoid the litany of criminal cases against him dating back to 1999-2008....
...In fact, by most measures America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise -- who suggest that America is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away -- are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.
See, that is what has everyone. Correction, Republicans. That is what has Republicans up in arms; President Obama stated there are partisan politics in the 'fear factor' of right wing partisan politics.
And, oh my god, what about Russia and China? Are they still a national security threat? I mean, President Obama didn't say the words, "HATE China and Russia as the ultimate enemies of the USA."
Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War. Meanwhile, our economy remains the most dynamic on Earth, our businesses the most innovative. Each year, we grow more energy independent. From Europe to Asia, we are the hub of alliances unrivaled in the history of nations.
It think THINKING PEOPLE, like the cadets at West Point, might have picked up on the line about the Cold War.
America continues to attract striving immigrants. The values of our founding inspire leaders in parliaments and new movements in public squares around the globe. And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or schoolgirls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine, it is America that the world looks to for help. (Applause.) So the United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century past, and it will be true for the century to come.
I especially like the part about immigrants. (dig, dig, dig) And I suppose the world leader thing still affirms America's place in the world, huh?
See, there are members of the US Armed Forces that achieve their citizenship while serving for a country they weren't born into. I am quite confident these members of our armed forces, some of the dead before achieving their citizenship, have relatives they would love to have legalized as well.
So, true.
Four and a half years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. We have removed our troops from Iraq. We are winding down our war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida’s leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated, and Osama bin Laden is no more. (Cheers, applause.) And through it all, we’ve refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of American strength: a growing economy that can provide opportunity for everybody who’s willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home.
Do, tell.
The CIA's targeted killing program in Pakistan,(click here) once the mainstay of President Barack Obama's counterterrorism effort, is winding down.
Because of stricter rules, diplomatic sensitivities and the changing
nature of the al-Qaida threat, there hasn't been a U.S. drone strike in
Pakistan's tribal areas since Christmas. And American officials say
opportunities for drone attacks will dwindle further as the CIA and the
military draw down in neighboring Afghanistan, reducing their
intelligence-gathering footprint.
"The program (in Pakistan) appears to have ended," said Peter Bergen,
who has closely studied drone strikes for the New America Foundation, a
Washington think tank.
U.S. officials won't go that far, but Obama announced this week a plan
to pull nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of
2016. The targeted killing program in Pakistan relies on drones flown
from, and intelligence gathered in, U.S. bases in Afghanistan that would
then be closed....29 May 2014
KARACHI: A Pakistani court (click here) on Thursday reserved judgment on former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's application to have a travel ban on him lifted, his lawyer said.
The 70-year-old, who flew to Karachi last month to undergo medical tests, has been waiting for a decision on his application for over a month.
He says he wants the travel ban lifted so he can visit his sick mother in Dubai, but many in Pakistan see it as a ruse to flee the country and avoid the litany of criminal cases against him dating back to 1999-2008....
...In fact, by most measures America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise -- who suggest that America is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away -- are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.
See, that is what has everyone. Correction, Republicans. That is what has Republicans up in arms; President Obama stated there are partisan politics in the 'fear factor' of right wing partisan politics.
And, oh my god, what about Russia and China? Are they still a national security threat? I mean, President Obama didn't say the words, "HATE China and Russia as the ultimate enemies of the USA."
Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War. Meanwhile, our economy remains the most dynamic on Earth, our businesses the most innovative. Each year, we grow more energy independent. From Europe to Asia, we are the hub of alliances unrivaled in the history of nations.
It think THINKING PEOPLE, like the cadets at West Point, might have picked up on the line about the Cold War.
America continues to attract striving immigrants. The values of our founding inspire leaders in parliaments and new movements in public squares around the globe. And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or schoolgirls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine, it is America that the world looks to for help. (Applause.) So the United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century past, and it will be true for the century to come.
I especially like the part about immigrants. (dig, dig, dig) And I suppose the world leader thing still affirms America's place in the world, huh?
See, there are members of the US Armed Forces that achieve their citizenship while serving for a country they weren't born into. I am quite confident these members of our armed forces, some of the dead before achieving their citizenship, have relatives they would love to have legalized as well.
