President Obama and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen addressed the press after their meeting today. Both tried to cast the war in Afghanistan as a NATO responsibility rather than one American will shoulder alone — and also suggested that victory there is still achievable.
Obama called their discussion “very fruitful” and called the war in Afghanistan “obviously the most important NATO mission right now.”
“We both agree that it is absolutely critical that we are successful in dismantling, disrupting, destroying the al Qaeda network.”
This is not an American battle. This is a NATO mission.
Rasmussen had a similar line.
“Our operation in Afghanistan is not America’s responsibility or burden alone,” Rasmussen said. “It is and it will remain a team effort.”
NATO allies are reviewing Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s assessment of the war — which includes a request for thousands more troops — Rasmussen said, adding that success “is achievable and will be achieved.”
The President described NATO as “the most successful military alliance in history,” but also said it was “shaped and crafted for a 20th century landscape.”
“We are going to have to constantly renew and revitalize NATO to meet current threats,” he said.
