Obama: "Finish the Job" in Afghanistan

During his joint press availability with Indian Prime Minister Singh, President Obama said he would be making his decision about sending additional troops to Afghanistan soon.   "I will be making an announcement to the American people about how we intend to move forward. I will be doing so shortly," he said.  The President is expected to make that announcement December 1st in an address to the nation.

The United States has had troops in Afghanistan for the last eight years and President Obama stressed it is his intention to "finish the job."  Mr. Obama has not revealed just how many of the recommended 40,000 additional troops he will need but there is no doubt about what one of their key missions will be. "It is in our strategic interests, in our national security interests, to make sure that Al Qaida and its extremist allies cannot operate effectively in those areas," the President said.  "We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks."

President Obama expressed confidence that once the American people heard his reasoning behind what U.S. troops would be doing in Afghanistan, they would be supportive of his decision.