Obama says he will smash al-Qaeda

Philippines News.Net
Tuesday 24th November, 2009

US President Barack Obama has told a Washington war council meeting he intends to finish the job in Afghanistan by destroying al-Qaeda and its extremist allies so that they can't operate in the region.

Replying to a question on his troop levels in Afghanistan, he said he would announce a decision on additional US troops in Afghanistan after Thanksgiving.

President Obama said he was confident that the American people would understand how he had a clear rationale for achieving military goals in Afghanistan.

He said: "It is in our strategic interests, in our national security interest to make sure that al-Qaeda and its extremist allies cannot operate effectively in those areas. We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks. It is my intention to finish the job."

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