Just announced on CNN. Obama has arrived for his first trip to Afghanistan since becoming president. Also announced by the Press Sec on twitter:
The President just landed in Afghanistan to see out troops and meet with President Karzai and his Cabinet
http://twitter.com/...
The president's work never ends. A major domestic accomplishment achieved and now he must continue the work of achieving our goals in Afghanistan and bring our troops home. I think this only goes on to highlight what a serious man we have in office. While GOP are stuck on obstruction and destructive rhetoric (see Sarah Palin and McCain), our POTUS takes no breaks, puts his head down and keeps working on the major issues confronting the country.
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Now being reported by CNN and MSNBC. But sadly, CNN apparently not important enough for CNN not to go to live coverage (updated: now doing live coverage)
Obama's brief stop will include a one-on-one meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, an expanded meeting with Karzai's cabinet and U.S. officials, and a speech to American military personnel.
It is Obama's second stop in a war zone as commander in chief, coming about a year after a similarly secretive trip to Iraq. Karzai was notified about Obama's visit just an hour before he arrived, the White House said.
MSNBC
Doesn't sound like the Secret Service or military trust Karzai's government to have too much advanced knowledge. As always, I pray for President Obama's safety.
Per Faux News reporting, Obama will meet with Karzai, McChrystal and meet with the troops, he then will leave Afghanistan in about 4 hours. Where to next
More from the NYT
General James L. Jones, the National Security adviser, told reporters aboard the flight to Bagram that Mr. Obama would try to make Mr. Karzai "understand that in his second term, there are certain things thhttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/3/28/115350/954?mode=editat have not been paid attention to, almost since day one." Gen. Jones said those things included "a merit-based system for appointment of key government officials, battling corruption, taking the fight to the narco-traffickers," which, he said, "provides a lot of the economic engine for the insurgents."
At the presidential palace, Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai walked and chatted along a red carpet as they made their way to an Afghan color guard, where the national anthems of both countries were played, in a welcoming ceremony that lasted 10 minutes.
White House officials disclosed no information about the trip until Mr. Obama’s plane had landed in Afghanistan, and had even gone so far as to inform reporters that the president would be spending the weekend at Camp David with his family. In fact, Mr. Obama’s trip is occurring during the Afghan night, and he is expected to be on his way back to Washington before most Afghanis wake up Monday morning.
h/t NedSparks: President will addressing troops at 2 PM EST will be carried live