President Obama Visits Afghanistan

I found this article to be a timely and interesting example of presidential image in foreign affairs — "Obama: Afghan Pact Signals Goal 'Is Within Reach'". The president acted in his role as commander-in-chief by personally visiting the troops and speaking of his hope for the future. I think it especially interesting that he chose to frame his plan for the future in terms of national security, avoiding the idea of imperialism or of imposition of democratic ideals in Afghanistan. After the experience in Iraq, many Americans are much less sympathetic to the idea of spreading American ideals in foreign countries, but they still value national security. President Obama said, "Our goal is not to build a country in America’s image, or to eradicate every vestige of the Taliban. These objectives would require many more years, many more dollars, and most importantly, many more American lives. Our goal is to destroy al-Qaeda, and we are on a path to do exactly that."