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He has taken a number of vacations, including pretty much every holiday, and has not spent one of them with the troops. I think he can show a great deal of leadership by spending Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. down range. Instead, he does things like spend Christmas on the one of nicest beaches on earth, takes a small break to go meet with Marines on one of the nicest military installations in the country (location wise). I am not impressed. Obama, military mingle The president visits service members and their families at the Kaneohe Marine base By Craig Gima POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 26, 2010 President Barack Obama took time out of a quiet Christmas with family, friends and basketball to greet servicemen and women during their Christmas dinner on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii yesterday afternoon. The president and first lady Michelle Obama posed for pictures, shook hands, hugged children and picked up babies. The president even joked about his busted lip. "I don't think he left before he got a chance to shake hands with everyone who was there," said Maj. Alan Crouch, the public affairs officer for the base. "He seemed appreciative of the service members and family members. It seemed like he got a lot out of it, as well." The unannounced visit to Anderson Hall happened at about 3:30 p.m. but may not have been much of a surprise. Obama visited with service members at the same dining hall at the same base at about the same times during his last two vacations in Hawaii. About 200 service members and their families got to meet the president and first lady. Marines from Kaneohe were part of the surge in Afghanistan ordered by Obama last year. About 1,400 Marines—the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment and a helicopter squadron—deployed to Helmand province in 2009. Some of the Marines went directly from Iraq to Afghanistan to be part of the surge. Marines and sailors from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Regiment just returned from Afghanistan earlier this month. The 3rd Battalion, which left Hawaii in May, lost at least three Marines during the seven-month deployment in the Nawa district. The base's three infantry battalions rotate to southern Afghanistan. The 2nd Battalion is back in Helmand. The president and his wife spent more than an hour shaking hands and hugging service members who had arrived for a Christmas dinner of prime rib, turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, salad, pie, pastries and soft-serve ice cream. "Hey, guys, merry Christmas. How are you?" the president asked Lisa Lao, 21, and Maha Lao, 23, sitting at a booth with their two children. Obama picked up 3-month-old Jensen Lao and bounced him a couple of times. "Merry Christmas, Mr. President," one little boy called out. "Did you get everything you wanted?" Obama asked a little girl. She showed him a new bracelet and the president pointed to Michelle Obama, who also had a new bracelet, and the first lady and the little girl compared bracelets. With U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and other outposts around the world, the Obamas also used the president's weekly radio and Internet address to encourage Americans to find ways to support service members during the holiday season. "Let's all remind them this holiday season that we're thinking of them, and that America will forever be here for them, just as they've been there for us," the president said. Mrs. Obama, who has made working with military families one of her priorities as first lady, said Americans don't need to be experts in military life to give back to those who serve their country. She urged the public to reach out through their schools and churches, or volunteer with organizations that support military families. "Anybody can send a care package or prepaid calling card to the front lines, or give what's sometimes the most important gift of all: simply saying thank you," Mrs. Obama said. As the president moved down a dining table, he encountered a large man, taller than the president, wearing a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt. "We've got to get you on the court," Obama quipped. "I will not get an elbow in the lip if we play with this guy." Alan Rogers, a chaplain at the base; his wife, Lisa; daughters Sarah and Laurin; and sons John and Jackson spent several minutes talking with the president and first lady about sports, school and another son—Lance Cpl. Jacob Rogers, now serving in Afghanistan. "It was very affirming," said Sarah Rogers. "The first family recognizes all the sacrafices we make as a military family. They took the time to talk to us about our lives and our brother in Afghanistan." The public appearance contrasts with the rest of the president's Christmas Day, spent at a luxurious oceanfront home in Kailua with his wife and daughters, Malia and Sasha. The first family celebrated Christmas with a small circle of friends and family, including some of Obama's childhood friends and the president's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives here on Oahu, the island where Obama was born and spent much of his childhood. The Obamas dined on steak, roasted potatoes, green beans and pie, and the sports-obsessed president got a chance to relax and watch some basketball. The president's Christmas has been far quieter than last year's holiday, when a 23-year-old Nigerian man allegedly attempted to blow up a plane bound for Detroit. The incident raised questions about the nation's terror readiness and consumed the rest of Obama's vacation. Thus far, Obama's excursions in Hawaii have been mostly to the gym and golf course, although he skipped the gym yesterday morning. On Christmas Eve, he went to the beach with his daughters. http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101226_Obama_military_mingle.html |
| Dos Equis:
For example: Top US Gen. Visits GIs in Afghanistan on Christmas Saturday, 25 Dec 2010 MARJAH, Afghanistan – The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan crisscrossed the country on Saturday, making a Christmas visit to coalition troops at some of the main battle fronts in a show of appreciation and support in the tenth year of the war against the Taliban. Gen. David Petraeus started his visit by traveling in a C-130 cargo plane from the capital, Kabul, to the northern province of Kunduz, telling troops with the U.S. Army's 1-87, 10th Mountain Division that on this day, there was "no place that (he) would rather be than here" where the "focus of our effort" was. The northern part of the country has seen increased fighting, with the Taliban stepping up their attacks as NATO focuses its sights on the militant movement's southern strongholds. Petraeus was briefed on the situation in the region by German Maj. Gen. Hans-Werner Fritz, the commander of NATO's northern regional command. In eastern Afghanistan, where NATO forces are focused on trying to prevent insurgents from slipping in from neighboring Pakistan, one U.S. platoon spent their Christmas as they do almost every other day — in a firefight with insurgents. Taliban on nearby hills opened fire twice during the day on their Combat Out Post Badel, sparking short gunbattles as the U.S. soldiers returned fire. There were no American casualties. Badel and other such front-line posts come under similar attacks nearly daily. Petraeus' visits Saturday also took him to the region of one of the main NATO offensives in the south this year_ the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province, scene of some of the heaviest fighting recently with the Taliban. He spoke to the Marines on the base, praising them for the improvements in the area, which still sees Taliban attacks. "You are part of America's new greatest generation. It is not just the courage that you have shown, it is not just the skills that you have shown in arms, although you have had to do that on a near daily basis in tough areas like this," he told the men and women of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Unit. "It is the versatility that you demonstrate going outside the wire every day, being ready for a hand grenade or a handshake and knowing what to do if either of those comes your way." Marjah has become a symbol of the problems facing NATO troops in Afghanistan. More than 7,000 U.S.-led NATO ground troops launched a nighttime invasion of the region of farming hamlets last February to rout insurgents and cut off their income from the drug trade. NATO officials said the effort would pave the way for the Afghan government to move in aid and start delivering public services. Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills on Dec. 7 declared that the battle in Marjah was "essentially over." But the campaign took longer than NATO officials had hoped, and illustrated the complexity of trying to wrest control of an area where Taliban influence remained strong. Efforts to create a civilian government in Marjah have been painfully slow, and U.S. troops struggled against roadside bombs and sniper attacks from an enemy that could blend in with the local population. Petraeus said "we probably created expectations that were unduly high, and we worked through that." Still, he said, the progress that was made in Marjah and in other areas helped pave the way for the unanimity achieved at a November NATO summit in Lisbon, where member states committed to Afghanistan until 2014. If the situation Marjah had been the same as earlier in the year, Petraeus said, that unanimity would not have been there. He said that when the campaign in Marjah began, it was "a headquarters for the Taliban," a bomb-making center and location for the illegal narcotics industry. "Now of course it is flourishing," he said. Where once there was no school, there are now 1,200 attending classes. It is not known when U.S. troops could be withdrawn in significant numbers from Helmand as heavy fighting continues elsewhere in the area, including the Sangin district where Marines took over from British forces. Before Marjah, Petraeus stopped in the western province of Farah, where the Italian army's 7th Alpini is stationed. The U.S. general's visit coincided with one by Gen. Vincenzo Camporini, the Italian chief of defense general staff. Petraeus congratulated the Italian soldiers on the "progress that has been achieved in the first few months that this unit has been here." http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/AfghanistanChristmas/2010/12/25/id/381002 |
| Straw Man:
Who cares if he goes on Christmas or not. He and Michelle have both "visited' the troops and most recently I believe was this past Veterans Day |
| Dos Equis:
::) |
| Straw Man:
hey Bum - would you like a list of all the times that Obama has visited the troops will you respond with a double set of eye rolls? |
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