Obama eats with troops before Karzai meeting
source: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/20/obama.afghanistan/index.html
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Sen. Barack Obama dined with U.S. troops at an American base in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday before an expected meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"This is my favorite thing to do," Obama said, as he sat with about two dozen soldiers, sailors and airmen in a military mess hall in Kabul.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was visiting Afghanistan before he embarks on a tour of the Middle East and Europe, a trip aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials.
The trip, which comes four months ahead of the presidential election, marks Obama's first visit to Afghanistan.
"The food is excellent, but the company's even better," Obama said. His loaded his plate with bacon and scrambled eggs, but he sidestepped the grits, saying "I'm going to try to be healthy."
Obama spoke briefly to a military reporter covering the event.
"To see young people like this, who are doing such excellent work with so much dedication and pride, it makes you feel good about the country," he said. "You want to make sure that everybody back home understands how much pride people take in their work here and how much sacrifice people are making. It's outstanding." Video Watch analyst discuss Obama's visit in Afghanistan »
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lewis, a Houston, Texas, native who sat near Obama, said he was impressed with the senator's knowledge of football "and he also was in tune with what's going on."
"He's in tune with the people and the great part is he took time out of his schedule to come over and visit us not just at this camp but other surrounding camps in Afghanistan," Lewis said. "That says a lot about his trying to get in touch with the military, and that's great."
"This is my favorite thing to do," Obama said, as he sat with about two dozen soldiers, sailors and airmen in a military mess hall in Kabul.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was visiting Afghanistan before he embarks on a tour of the Middle East and Europe, a trip aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials.
The trip, which comes four months ahead of the presidential election, marks Obama's first visit to Afghanistan.
"The food is excellent, but the company's even better," Obama said. His loaded his plate with bacon and scrambled eggs, but he sidestepped the grits, saying "I'm going to try to be healthy."
Obama spoke briefly to a military reporter covering the event.
"To see young people like this, who are doing such excellent work with so much dedication and pride, it makes you feel good about the country," he said. "You want to make sure that everybody back home understands how much pride people take in their work here and how much sacrifice people are making. It's outstanding." Video Watch analyst discuss Obama's visit in Afghanistan »
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lewis, a Houston, Texas, native who sat near Obama, said he was impressed with the senator's knowledge of football "and he also was in tune with what's going on."
"He's in tune with the people and the great part is he took time out of his schedule to come over and visit us not just at this camp but other surrounding camps in Afghanistan," Lewis said. "That says a lot about his trying to get in touch with the military, and that's great."
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