Obama Pledges to 'Finish the Job' in Afghanistan

President Obama has pledged to "finish the job" and end the Afghan war, addressing the US public live from a military base in Afghanistan. Speaking a year after Osama Bin Laden's death, Mr Obama thanked US troops and hailed plans to end combat operations.

He arrived in Afghanistan on a publicly unannounced visit to sign an agreement on future Afghan-US ties with President Hamid Karzai, ahead of a Nato summit. Hours after his speech, at least seven people died in an attack in Kabul. Afghan officials said at least two suicide bombers targeted a guesthouse popular with foreigners in the eastern part of the capital. They said at least four of those killed were from a nearby school. Seventeen people were wounded.  The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attacks.

A spokesman for the Nato lead force praised the Afghan security forces for "taking the lead in putting down another desperate attack by insurgents". Earlier, Mr Obama said signing the pact with President Karzai was "a historic moment" for both nations. At its heart, this speech was a balancing act. The vast majority of Americans want to get out of Afghanistan and end the war. But anything that looks like cutting and running, leaving the Afghans in the lurch, would be criticized by the foreign policy establishment and by some allies, as well as his obvious opponents.

On the weekend the president officially launches his re-election campaign. Foreign affairs will not dominate, but one of the reasons he was elected was to end the wars, to change America's foreign policy. It is important that he is perceived to have done that in a way that is both patriotic and responsible. There are few better ways than to be seen alongside America's military.

His visit and TV address come as correspondents say public patience with the war in Afghanistan is wearing thin. In the speech, beamed back to prime-time evening audiences in US, the president said that at the upcoming Nato summit, to be held in Chicago, the alliance would "set a goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the country next year". Nato has already committed to withdrawing from combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

"I will not keep Americans in harm's way a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national security," Mr Obama said. "But we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly." Correspondents say Mr Obama's words appear to be aimed at showing American voters he is pursuing a strategy to wind down the war, while reassuring Afghans in the face of a continuing Taliban insurgency.

About 23,000 of the 88,000 US troops currently in the country are expected to leave Afghanistan by the summer, with all US and Nato troops out by the end of 2014. "It is time to renew America," Mr Obama said towards the end of his remarks. "My fellow Americans, we have travelled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon," Mr Obama said.

"The Iraq war is over. The number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfil our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al-Qaeda. America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaeda safe-havens, and respect for Afghan sovereignty”

During the speech, Mr Obama outlined the agreement he had just signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. According to the president, the document outlines plans for training Afghan forces and supporting counter terrorism efforts, as well as "Afghan commitments to transparency and accountability".

Mr Obama also spoke of a "negotiated peace" with the Taliban, saying that if insurgents break with al-Qaeda, and follow the "path to peace", there can be reconciliation. He said that ahead of the Chicago meeting of Nato, he had made it clear to Pakistan that it could be an "equal partner in the process".
Pakistan and US relations soured after Mr Obama launched the raid that killed Bin Laden inside the country's border. "In pursuit of a durable peace, America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaeda safe-havens, and respect for Afghan sovereignty."

Mr Obama also rejected calls to leave Afghanistan before the 2014 Nato timeline, saying "we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly". In the wake of the agreement, the US is to designate Afghanistan as a major non-Nato ally.