Obama: Afghanistan 'America's war'

by Andrew Zajac

The greatly expanded U.S. military effort in Afghanistan is necessary to root out al Qaeda, but is not open-ended and will be monitored carefully for signs of progress, President Barack Obama said in a television interview aired this morning.

"We needed to ramp up from the greatly under-resourced level" in the region, Obama said, but that doesn't mean "that if this strategy doesn't work that what's needed is even more troops. There may be a point of diminishing returns in terms of troop levels. We've gotta also make sure that our civilian efforts, our diplomatic efforts and our development efforts, are just as robustly--encouraged."

The White House last week announced substantial increases of troops bound for Afghanistan and plans to increase training and foreign aid both in that country and in neighboring Pakistan.

Obama, in an interview with CBS News' Bob Schieffer aired on Face the Nation today, said they would pursue al Qaeda and its allies aggressively, but that did not mean that ground troops would enter Pakistan.

Obama pointedly declined Schieffer's characterization of the Afghan conflict as " Obama's war now."

"I think it's America's war, the president said.

Obama said he hopes to gain closer cooperation from the Pakistani government by persuading it that Al Qaeda and its Taliban supporters were a threat to the country's own stability.

Closer to home, Obama left open the possibility of putting national guard troops on the Mexican border to prevent that country's drug war violence from spilling further into the U.S., but wanted to see if an infusion of aid to the Mexican government reduces the mayhem.

He echoed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement last week that the U.S. needs to do more to curb behavior that contributes to violence in Mexico.

"We gotta reduce the demand for drugs," Obama said. "We've got to do our part in reducing the flow of cash and guns south."

On the domestic front, Obama, who is slated to announce details of an assistance package to Detroit automakers on Monday said they still need to do more cost-cutting. "They're not quite there yet," Obama said.

Obama also said that while public outrage over bonuses paid to Wall Street bankers is justified, it won't distract him from focusing on the larger picture of improving the economy. "We're all in this together," Obama said. "And it's my job to help keep that focus as we move forward."

Obama said he was gratified to be in the White House at "a time where the presidency really matters. ..This is not a caretaker presidency right now."

Here, courtesy of CBS News, is a transcript of Bob Schieffer's interview of President Barack Obama conducted Friday and aired today on Face the Nation:

CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer: Mr. President, thank you for joining us. This economic crisis has been so severe that it has literally pushed all the other issues off the television, out of the newspapers. But as - when you outlined your program for Afghanistan and the new strategy, it really underlined in the starkest terms that we may not be talking about these serious issues, but there are some very serious things going on out there. So I'd like to start there -

President Obama: Please.

Schieffer: - if I could. This is a hugely ambitious plan. 22,000 more troops. You're gonna increase spending by 60 percent. You said in your announcement we must defeat al Qaeda.

President Obama: Right.

Schieffer: This has really now become your war, hasn't it?

President Obama: I think it's America's war. And it's the same war that we initiated after 9/11 as a consequence of those attacks on 3,000 Americans who were just going about their daily round. And the focus over the last seven years I think has been lost.

What we want to do is to refocus attention on al Qaeda. We are going to root out their networks, their bases. We are gonna make sure that they cannot attack U.S. citizens, U.S. soil, U.S. interests, and our allies' interests around the world.

In order for us to do that, we have to ensure that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan can serve as a safe haven for al Qaeda. And, unfortunately, over the last several years what we've seen is, essentially, al Qaeda moving several miles from Afghanistan to Pakistan but effectively still able to project their violence and, and hateful ideologies out into the world.

Schieffer: You talked many times during your - as you outlined this strategy, about al Qaeda in Pakistan.

President Obama: Right.

Schieffer: You talk about safe havens in Pakistan.

President Obama: Right.

Schieffer: Are you giving our commanders now in Afghanistan a green light to go after these people even if they're in what used to be safe havens in Pakistan?

President Obama: Well, I haven't changed my approach. If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them. But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists.

Now, one of the concerns that we've had building up over the last several years is a notion I think among the average Pakistani that this is somehow America's war and that they are not invested. And that attitude I think has led to a steady creep of extremism in Pakistan that is the greatest threat to the stability of the Pakistan government - and ultimately the greatest threat to the Pakistani people.

What we want do is say to the Pakistani people, you are our friends, you are our allies. We are going to give you the tools to defeat al Qaeda and to root out these safe havens. But we also expect some accountability. And we expect that you understand the severity and the nature of the threat.

In addition, what we want do is to help Pakistan grow its economy, to be able to provide basic services to its people, and that I think will help strengthen those efforts. If the Pakistan government doesn't have credibility, if they are weakened, then it's gonna be much more difficult for them to deal with the extremism within their borders.

Schieffer: But you're talking about going after them. Are you talking about with American boots on the ground -

President Obama: No.

Schieffer: - pursuing these people into these so-called safe havens?

President Obama: No. Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government. We need to work with them and through them to deal with al Qaeda. But we have to hold them much more accountable. And we have to recognize that part of our task in working with Pakistan is not just military. It's also our capacity to build their capacity through civilian interventions, through development, through aid assistance. And that's part of what you're seeing - both in Afghanistan and Pakistan I think is fully resourcing a comprehensive strategy that doesn't just rely on bullets or bombs but also relies on agricultural specialists on doctors, on engineers, to help create an environment in which people recognize that they have much more at stake in partnering with us and the international community than giving into some of these -

Schieffer: Help me out here -

President Obama: - extremist ideologies.

Schieffer: How do you - what if they can't do it? What if they won't do it? I mean, we have reports now about members of Pakistan's intelligence service actually actively helping the Taliban and al Qaeda.

President Obama: Well, some -

Schieffer: What if they don't do it?

President Obama: Some of those reports aren't new. There are a whole host of contingencies that we've gotta deal with. I mean, this is gonna be hard, Bob. I'm under no illusions. If it was easy, it would have already been completed. And so we're gonna have to go with a strategy that is focused, that is narrowly targeted on defeating al Qaeda. We think that if you combine military, civilian, diplomatic, development approaches, if we are doing a much better job of coordinating with our allies, then we can be successful.

But we recognize there are gonna be a lot of hurdles between now and us finally having weakened al Qaeda or destroyed al Qaeda to the point there - it cannot, it doesn't pose a danger to us. And we will continue to monitor and adjust our strategies to make sure that we're not just going down blind alleys.

Schieffer: Are you concerned at all? Because some people say the more troops you put in is just gonna enflame the situation. It's gonna make it worse. What do you say to them?

President Obama: Well, I'm very mindful of that. Look, you know, I'm enough of a student of history to know that the United States in Vietnam and other countries, other epics of history have overextended to the point where they were severely weakened. And the history in Afghanistan obviously shows that that country has not been very favorably disposed towards foreign intervention.

And that's why a central part of our strategy is to train the Afghan National Army so that they are taking the lead increasingly to deal with extremists in their area. That's been one of the few success stories that we've seen over the last several years, is the Afghan National Army actually has great credibility. They are effective fighters. We need to grow that. And that's part of the reason why we wanna make sure that there are trainers there.

But the last point I would make, you know, a request was made for increased troop levels in Afghanistan. I have already authorized 17,000. We're now adding 4,000 trainers, specifically designed to train Afghan security forces. But what I've also said to the Department of Defense and what I will say to the American public is that, you know, we now have resourced properly this strategy. It's not going to be an open-ended commitment of infinite resources. We've just got to make sure that we are focused on achieving what we need -

Schieffer: What you seem -

President Obama: - to achieve with resources we have.

Schieffer: - to be saying is we have to win. There's no choice here.

President Obama: Uh-huh.

Schieffer: So does that mean if more is needed, if the commanders come back to you and say, "We may need more troops, Mr. President, to do this," you're gonna be ready to do that?

President Obama: What I will not do is to simply assume that more troops always results in an improved situation. I think there was a good argument after us scrubbing this very hard and talking to a lot of our allies in the region, including the Pakistan, Afghanistan governments, the Europeans, and our other NATO allies, that this was the best strategy.

But just because we needed to ramp up from the greatly under-resourced levels that we had, doesn't automatically mean that if this strategy doesn't work that what's needed is even more troops. There may be a point of diminishing returns in terms of troop levels. We've gotta also make sure that our civilian efforts, our diplomatic efforts and our development efforts, are just as robustly encouraged.

And so, for example, in the budget that I've presented to Congress, I've said we've got to increase foreign aid in Afghanistan, and we've gotta increase foreign aid in Pakistan. And I am gonna be really pushing Congress because sometimes foreign aid is a juicy target, particularly during tough times. I'm gonna tell them this is central to our strategy, and it can save lives and troops if we properly execute it.

Schieffer: But you described this in very dark terms. I mean, and there's no question that things are worse than ever -

President Obama: Yes.

Schieffer: - in Afghanistan. You would agree with that?

President Obama: I do.

Schieffer: But you're saying -

President Obama: Well, let me make sure I'm clear. They're not worse than they were when the Taliban was in charge -

Schieffer: Yes.

President Obama: - and al Qaeda was operating with impunity. We have seen a deterioration over the last several years. And unless we get a handle on it now, we're gonna be in trouble.

Schieffer: You said the other day in the 60 Minutes interview that you would not have thought at this point in your presidency that Iraq would be the least of your worries, something to that effect.

President Obama: Right. Right.

Schieffer: Are things going well enough there now that you may consider speeding up the withdrawal of troops from Iraq?

President Obama: No, I think the plan that we put forward in Iraq is the right one, which is, let's have a very gradual withdrawal schedule through the national elections in Iraq. There's still work to be done on the political side to resolve differences between the various sectarian groups around issues like oil, around issues like provincial elections.

And so we're gonna continue to make progress on that front. I'm confident that we're moving in the right direction. But Iraq is not yet completed. We still have a lot of work to do. We still have a lot of training of Iraqi forces to improve their capacity. I'm confident, though, that we're moving in the right direction.

Schieffer: Let me ask you about something closer to home and that is Mexico. You talked about sending more aid to the Mexican government. But things down there are really serious, as you well know. It's my understanding that 90 percent of the guns that they're getting down in Mexico are coming from the United States. We don't seem to be doing a very good job of cutting off the gun flow. Do you need any kind of legislative help on that front? Have you, for example, thought about asking Congress to reinstate the ban on assault weapons?

President Obama: Well, I think the main thing we need is better enforcement. And so this week we put forward a comprehensive initiative to assist those border regions that are being threatened by these drug cartels to provide assistance to the Mexican government to make sure that on our side of the border we've got more personnel, more surveillance equipment.

Schieffer: But why are we having so much trouble with that? I mean -

President Obama: Well, what's happened is that President Calderon I think has been very bold and rightly has decided that it's gotten carried away. The drug cartels have too much power, are undermining and corrupting huge segments of Mexican society. And so he has taken them on in the same way that when, you know, Elliot Ness took on Al Capone back during Prohibition, oftentimes that causes even more violence. And we're seeing that flare up.

Schieffer: Do you think it's a threat to the United States security?

President Obama: I don't think that it is what would be called an existential threat. But it is a serious threat to those border communities, and it's gotten out of hand. And so what we have to do is to recognize that, look, this is a two-way street -

Schieffer: Which -

President Obama: - as Secretary Clinton indicated -

Schieffer: Yes?

President Obama: - we've gotta reduce demand for drugs. We've got to do our part in reducing the flow of cash and guns south.

Schieffer: Are we anywhere close to putting U.S. troops on the border?

President Obama: You know, obviously there have been calls to increase National Guard troops on the borders. That's something that we are considering. But we want to first see whether some of the steps that we've taken can help quell some of the violence. And we want to make sure that we are consulting as effectively as we can with the Mexican government in moving this strategy forward.

Schieffer: All right. Let's take a break here. We'll come back and talk about some domestic issues.

>>> COMMERCIAL BREAK

Schieffer: Mr. President, you're scheduled to announce on Monday what you plan to do with the auto industry as they're asking for more federal money.

President Obama: Right.

Schieffer: You've told them they're gonna have to cut back, present a different business plan. Our sources tell us that as far as the White House is concerned, they're not there yet. Do they have to do more in order to get this money?

President Obama: Yes. They're not quite there yet. There's been some serious efforts to deal with a combination of long-standing problems in the auto industry and the current crisis, which has seen, you know, the market for new cars drop from 14 million to nine million. Everybody's having problems, even Toyota and other very profitable companies.

And so what we're trying to let them know is that we want to have a successful auto industry, U.S. auto industry. We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge at the other end much more lean, mean, and competitive than it currently is.

And that's gonna mean a set of sacrifices from all parties involved, management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody's gonna have to come to the table and say it's important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road.

Schieffer: But they're not there yet.

President Obama: They're not there yet.

Schieffer: You campaigned on cutting taxes for the middle class.

President Obama: Uh-huh.

Schieffer: And yet lately I don't see any middle-class tax cut in the version of the budget that's going through the Senate right now. You have suggested that maybe you'd let the tax cut you put for the middle class in the stimulus bill run out next year. Can you tell us, are you still pushing a middle-class tax cut? I know you said you want the Congress to follow the principles -

President Obama: Right.

Schieffer: - you set out, your priorities - education -

President Obama: Health care.

Schieffer: - reducing the deficit, health care, and so on - and education. But have you abandoned the middle-class tax cut?

President Obama: Absolutely not. Now, first of all, let's understand, Bob, I've delivered that middle-class tax cut for two years in the stimulus package. So people will be getting -

Schieffer: This year and next year.

President Obama: They, that's right. They will be -

(CROSSTALK)

Schieffer: - lay that one out?

President Obama: Hold on a second. They'll be seeing their tax cuts in their paychecks starting on April 1st for 95 percent of working families, just as we promised. I strongly believe that we should continue those tax cuts. We should make them permanent because the average worker out there, the average family saw their wages and incomes flatline even during boom times over the last decade. And there's been a huge growth in income at the very top echelons but not for average American workers. They've been losing ground. So I think it's the right thing to do.

What I've also said, though, is we've gotta pay for it. Now, in my original budget we had a way of paying for it. And some of the proposals that we have made, members of Congress have said, "Well, we're not quite comfortable with that."

So what've I've said is, if you don't wanna pay for it in those ways, let's find another way to pay for it. I think it's still the right thing to do. And I'm gonna be pushing as hard as I can to get it done in this budget. If it's not done in this budget then I'm gonna keep on pushing for it next year and the year afterwards so that we don't see a drop-off after -

Schieffer: So, so what you're saying is -

President Obama: - the two years the tax cuts are out there.

Schieffer: - the Congress may want to find a different way to pay for it. But you're gonna insist on -

President Obama: Absolutely. That's -

(CROSSTALK)

Schieffer: - a middle-class tax cut. I want to ask you also about the, these bonuses and all that on Wall Street. Congress expressed outrage. You seemed outraged. And then after the Congress, the House passed the bill to get that money back with some kind of taxes on those, on those people, you seemed to throw a little cold water on that.

President Obama: Right.

Schieffer: You said we shouldn't legislate down a banker. Have you now, on reflection, decided that maybe you let that go a little too far?

President Obama: Oh, no, I think that the anger was justified. And had we not seen some healthy expressions of anger, we wouldn't have gotten $50 million of those bonuses back -

Schieffer: Well, do you -

President Obama: - that, that had been sent to AIG. But what I consistently said - and I said this even on the first day when I announced that, in fact, we were gonna do everything we could to get some of those bonuses back - I said at the time that it is important to keep our eye on the ball. My most important job is to get this economy moving again, to get credit flowing again so that businesses large and small can start rehiring, open their doors, and we can start seeing economic growth again.

That's my most important job. What I don't want is that larger project to be threatened by short-term gratification of our legitimate frustrations with some of the behavior that we've seen on Wall Street. And I've met with bankers, some of the -

Schieffer: Did you talk about that in your big meeting with bankers at the White House?

President Obama: I talked to them. And what I said was, look, first of all, there are a lot of bankers that are doing good work in the community, that are acting responsibly, that haven't taken huge risks. I understand that. But understand that for the average single mom who is just barely struggling to pay her mortgage or medical bills for her kid, who's paying her taxes, who's playing by the rules and then finds out that a taxpayer-assisted firm is paying out multi-million dollar bonuses, that's just not acceptable. Show some restraint. Show some, show that you get that this is a crisis and everybody has to make sacrifices.

Schieffer: And what did they say?

President Obama: They agreed. And they recognized it. Now, the proof of the pudding's in the eating. So I expect to see that restraint operate. Another way of putting it, as I said to those folks, let me help you - help me help you. It's very difficult for me as president to call on the American people to make sacrifices to help shore up the financial system if there's no sense of mutual obligation and mutual help.

Now, the flip side is, I've gotta explain to the American people we're not gonna get this recovery if we don't see a recovery of the financial sector. And there's no separation between Main Street and Wall Street. We're all in this together. And it's my job to help keep that focus as we move forward.

Schieffer: One more question, Mr. President. This week I went down to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, where they have this wonderful new visitor center. And one of the historians down there reminded me that Thomas Jefferson once said the presidency is a splendid misery. (LAUGHTER) But at the end of his term, he also said, quote, that "the presidency had brought him nothing but increasing drudgery and a daily loss of friends." (LAUGHTER) I just wonder, have you lost any friends yet?

President Obama: I don't think I've lost any friends! But I'm sure I've strained some friendships. Look, this is an invigorating job. In some ways, I feel incredibly fortunate to be in this job at a time where the presidency really matters. You know, I'm - this is not a caretaker presidency right now. Every decision we're making counts. And my team understands that.

You know, if I had my preferences, would I love to deal with one of these at a time? Deal with Afghanistan now and maybe put off banking till later or deal with health care three years from now, that would be great. I don't have that luxury because the American people don't have that luxury. They need to be kept safe now. They need health care assistance now. They need this economy back on track now. They need to educate their kids now. And given that they're having to make a lot of difficult choices, it's important for us to work as hard as we can to help them live out their American dream.

Schieffer: Thank you, Mr. President.

President Obama: Great to talk to you, Bob. Thank you.