WASHINGTON – President Obama is predicting a US victory in Afghanistan – but not with “100 percent certainty.”
“I can say we will defeat al Qaeda and that the Taliban will not be retaking Afghanistan,” Obama said in an interview to be aired tonight on FOX News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor.”
“I can’t say anything with 100 percent certainty but am confident that our troops have done an incredible amount of work,” Obama continued. “They are on the offensive rather than being on the defensive and we’re starting to transition so that Afghan security forces are taking over.”
Yet, he cautioned that the Taliban “are still going to be an element in Afghanistan” after U.S. troops leave.
The president made the remarks in a taped interview at the White House following the live Super Bowl pre-game interview yesterday.
Obama also tread carefully when host Bill O’Reilly asked whether he “trusts” Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who critics say hasn’t aggressively pursued government corruption that is undermining the war effort.
“I trust that he cares about his country and he cares about the relationship with the United States but I do think that he’s got some big changes that he has to make in his government to be legitimate in the eyes of the Afghan people over the long term,” Obama said.