{"id":91538,"date":"2019-11-29T08:13:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T16:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=91538"},"modified":"2019-11-29T08:13:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T16:13:23","slug":"president-trump-visited-troops-in-afghanistan-on-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=91538","title":{"rendered":"President Trump Visited Troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bagram, Afghanistan&#8230;.Well, thank you very much.  (Applause.)  That was great.  And we just had a nice Thanksgiving dinner.  I thought I was going to be having it someplace else, and Senator Barrasso is a great friend of mine, and he said, \u201cThat\u2019ll be great if we did it.\u201d  I said, \u201cYou come with me, John.\u201d  And he came with me.  John, thank you very much.  Great friend of ours.  He\u2019s a great senator and a great man.  (Applause.)  And I want to thank General Milley.  Special warrior.  He\u2019s a special warrior.  And I want to congratulate you also because I just saw some numbers that are incredible.  ISIS \u2014 you\u2019re wiping them out left and right.  There\u2019s almost nothing left in this area.  (Applause.)  You\u2019re not going to be lonely.  And al-Qaeda, the same thing.  And tremendous progress.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lnXrdn3-l-E\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And, you know, we have a very special friend of ours that\u2019s here.  We had a meeting a little while ago.  I said, \u201cWould you like to come over and say hello to the troops?\u201d  And he said, \u201cThat would be such an honor.\u201d  And I think what I\u2019ll do is, before I start, I\u2019ll bring up the President of Afghanistan.  President Ghani is here.  So please, Mr. President, we\u2019d love to have you say something.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT GHANI:  In the name of compassion and mercy, this President, great American troops, great patriots: Happy Thanksgiving.  (Applause.)  It\u2019s an occasion for us to be especially thankful because the President of the United States is here.  And he has been the architect of the South Asia strategy and the strategy for wiping out al Qaeda and Daesh.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to your support and the bravery of the Afghan soldiers, we have inflicted an incredible defeat on ISIS in Nangarhar.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Last week, it was Nangarhar; in the next three months, it\u2019s going to be all of Afghanistan.  (Applause.)  Equally, with your support, what we have done to wipe out al Qaeda South Asia is tremendous.  And thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>President Trump, people talked a lot about bin Laden, but what you did to eliminate al-Baghdadi \u2014 who was an organizer and not a talker \u2014 is a much greater accomplishment.  Congratulations.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I would also like to take this occasion to say thank you to the Gold Star families: 2,298 American men and women in uniform who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.  This nation will always be grateful for that sacrifice, and we will always remember.  And also, 20,585 have been wounded.  But since President Trump has been President of the United States, fortunately, we still too high a number but only 52 American men and women in uniform have died compared to thousands before.  This is a tribute to our joint partnership and to the sacrifice that Afghan soldiers, your brothers and sisters in uniform, are making.<\/p>\n<p>More than a million Americans have served here in uniform.  We\u2019ve paid tribute to their families and to your families.  I would like a special request: Please thank your families for agreeing to miss you at this special occasion at home, and for being here, defending United States security and our freedom.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Together, we will succeed.  We will never forget that 9\/11 brought us, and we will never permit the repetition of 9\/11 again.  (Applause.)  God bless you.  God bless the President.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Fantastic.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Well, thank you very much, Mr. President.  Fifty-two, compared to thousands.  And we\u2019re doing a tremendous job.  And, as you know, a big part of that job is ISIS \u2014 certainly the biggest \u2014 and al Qaeda.  And we \u2014 we\u2019ve got them down to very low numbers.  We\u2019ll have that totally taken care of in a very short period of time.  And we\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n<p>The Taliban wants to make a deal.  We\u2019ll see if they want to make a deal.  It\u2019s got to be a real deal, but we\u2019ll see.  But they want to make a deal.  And they only want to make a deal because you\u2019re doing a great job.  That\u2019s the only reason they want to make a deal.  So I want to thank you, and I want to thank the Afghan soldiers for really \u2014 I\u2019ve spoken to a lot of you today, and you say they\u2019re really fighting hard.  I was very impressed with that, actually.  So I want to thank you.<\/p>\n<p>And, General Milley, again, to be at Bagram Airfield, I\u2019ve heard to much about it.  It\u2019s an incredible place.  This is some \u2014 some airfield, some fortress.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank all of the Afghanistanian troops.  We have a lot of them here, actually.  We have a number of them standing around, saying hello and waving.  And we appreciate it.  And I also say to you, just \u201cat ease.\u201d  Let\u2019s just enjoy ourselves for a couple of minutes.  I\u2019m going to introduce a few people.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s nowhere I\u2019d rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest, best, and bravest warriors on the face of the Earth.  You are indeed that.  You know, when I took office \u2014 if you can believe it, almost three years ago \u2014 we were very depleted.  Our military was depleted, in terms of equipment.  You see, right?  They were all shaking their heads.  That\u2019s right.  We have all those brand-new planes and brand-new helicopters and brand-new ships being built now.  Brand-new, incredible submarines.  Probably the most powerful submarines \u2014 probably the most powerful weapon in the world, is what we\u2019re building, in the form of submarines.  Nobody\u2019s \u2014 nothing is even close.<\/p>\n<p>But we have things that nobody has seen, nobody has heard about.  And we\u2019ll keep it that way.  But we\u2019ve spent $2.5 trillion \u2014 very close to that number.  And very shortly, it will be at $2.5 trillion.  And while I don\u2019t love that \u2014 you know, what that does to my budget, because I\u2019m a budget person \u2014 we don\u2019t have a strong military budget, it don\u2019t matter much do they, huh?  I can (inaudible) have to worry about budgets.  So, with what\u2019s going on in the world today \u2014 very important.  $2.5 trillion.<\/p>\n<p>And nobody beats our great Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines.  And we think, soon, we\u2019re going to be adding a thing called \u201cspace\u201d \u2014 you know about that, right?  Space.  (Applause.)  We\u2019re going to have space covered very well.  We\u2019re covering it now, but we have to cover it to a much greater extent.  And you\u2019ll be hearing about that in the coming days and weeks.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve just come from serving Thanksgiving dinner to some of you \u2014 I recognize already, some of you in the audience.  And \u2014 with General Milley and the folks.  And we had a good time.  I then got down \u2014 I sat down.  I had a gorgeous piece of turkey.  And I was all set to go, and I had some of the mashed potatoes and I had a bite of mashed potatoes.  And I never got to the turkey, because General Milley said, \u201cCome on over, sir.  Let\u2019s take some pictures.\u201d  I never got to my turkey.  It\u2019s the first time in Thanksgiving that I\u2019ve never had anything called turkey.  (Laughter.)  But that\u2019s okay.  But it looked awfully good, I have to tell you that.  I should have started with that, instead of the mashed potatoes.  I made a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>But I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic meal.  It certainly did look good.  And hopefully everyone can get some well-deserved rest this holiday.  Your family \u2014 they\u2019re home, and they love you so much.<\/p>\n<p>We flew 8,331 miles to be here tonight for one simple reason: to tell you, in person, that this Thanksgiving is a special Thanksgiving.  We\u2019re doing so well.  Our country is the strongest, economically, it\u2019s ever been.  We have never done so well.  We have the greatest economy anywhere in the world.  So it\u2019s nice to know that you\u2019re fighting for something that is doing well, as opposed to something that was not doing well just a number of years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Our stock market has reached the highest level ever in the history of the exchanges \u2014 all three, if you look.  All three.  It\u2019s incredible.  It\u2019s incredible, what\u2019s happening.  It just broke a record.  I think it\u2019s close to 130 days.  So we\u2019re less than three years, and 130 times we\u2019ve broken the all-time record.  And to me, that doesn\u2019t mean an all-time record.  It means something different; it means jobs.  It means 401(k)s.<\/p>\n<p>People come up to me with their 401(k)s, they say, \u201cSir, you\u2019ve made me look like a genius.  Thank you very much.\u201d  You know, they\u2019re up 78 percent.  They feel good.<\/p>\n<p>So I would just want to say that we thank God for your health and all of the things that you\u2019ve done.  You are very special people.  And you don\u2019t even know how much the people of our country love and respect you.  And they do.  It\u2019s why I\u2019m here.  I\u2019m just bringing the message.<\/p>\n<p>The courageous American warriors in Afghanistan and across the region are leading the fight to vanquish America\u2019s enemies and defeat forces of radical Islamic terrorism.  I would say it so often during the campaign.  That\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n<p>Together, we\u2019re making tremendous progress.  Just a few weeks ago, as you know, and as President Ghani mentioned, U.S. Special Forces brought the world\u2019s number-one, most wanted terrorist to justice.  When the President said more important than Osama bin Laden, I would say that, look, you know \u2014 different, in a way.  He was an organizer.  Al-Baghdadi was an organizer.  He was the founder of ISIS.  He was the father, if you want to call him that, of ISIS.  I think he wasn\u2019t so happy, three weeks ago, when he saw those incredible 67 men, in that case, just come pouring down onto where he was staying.  And that didn\u2019t work out too good.<\/p>\n<p>And we have a new national hero.  You know who that is, right?  Conan.  Conan is a new \u2014 is our new great hero.  That was some- \u2014 and Conan was at the White House the other day.  You might have seen it.  And it was something.<\/p>\n<p>But the animal known as al-Baghdadi \u2014 the founder, the leader of ISIS, the man that was trying to reinstitute ISIS, because we\u2019ve defeated \u2014 we have 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate in Syria is now ours \u2014 he is dead.  His second is dead.  His third \u2014 we have the sights on the third.  I think the third doesn\u2019t want the job.  (Laughter.)  The third is saying, \u201cYou know what?  Maybe I\u2019ll go work in a store, or something.\u201d  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But Baghdadi was a savage and soulless monster who raped, tortured, and slaughtered the innocent, including many, many Americans.  When you saw those folks \u2014 those great people in the orange jumpsuits, oftentimes standing on a beach with a thug behind him and a big knife \u2014 that was all al-Baghdadi.  But he\u2019s gone.  The American warriors hunted him down, they executed a masterful raid, and they punched his ticket to hell.  That\u2019s what happened.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after we got Baghdadi, we focused on some other elements in the area.  And we also started leaving the area, because it\u2019s secure.  But we didn\u2019t leave it totally.  We kept the oil.  Makes sense, right?  I\u2019ve been saying for a long time, \u201cKeep the oil.\u201d  Hate to say it.  I used to say it with a place called Iraq, too.  \u201cKeep the oil.\u201d  They didn\u2019t listen to me.  I was a civilian; they didn\u2019t listen.  Now they have to listen.  (Laughter.)  But we kept the oil.  And we kept it and we can help the Kurds; we can help our partners; we can have it developed.  It\u2019s where they got their wealth.  That\u2019s where they got their money.  We kept it.  So, we\u2019ll go back in when we have to, as it arises.  But 100 percent.<\/p>\n<p>We have thousands of prisoners.  We\u2019d like Europe to take those prisoners.  They have not stepped up to the plate at all.  Many come from France.  Many come from Germany.  They come from different countries in Europe.  They have not stepped up to the plate.  That\u2019s not good.  We have to talk to them, John, because they should be taking those people back and trying them.  And if we didn\u2019t do it, they\u2019d go back to France and they\u2019d go back to Germany and to UK, and to all of \u2014 all of the places where they came.  That\u2019s where they want to go back.  And they should take them.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks ago, we also announced that the forces are coming back.  They\u2019re coming back home.  We\u2019re reducing over here, but because of technology and all of things that we have, we\u2019re able to reduce, in Afghanistan \u2014 very substantially, actually reduce \u2014 and do even more devastating attacks on the enemy.  So, that\u2019s part of the $2.5 trillion that we have coming.<\/p>\n<p>Finest equipment in the world.  We build the greatest equipment anywhere in the world, by far.  And we\u2019re selling that equipment now to many, many countries that are our allies.  The enemies, we decide usually not to do it.  History has said, \u201cDon\u2019t sell the good equipment to the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Our message to the bloodthirsty terrorists is clear: You will not escape your wretched fate, because the long reach and the really awesome power of the United States military is unstoppable.  We have the most powerful military in the world, by far.  There\u2019s nobody close.  And we\u2019re going to keep it that way.  We\u2019re going to keep it that way.<\/p>\n<p>This evening, as millions of families sit down at their dinner tables back home, they\u2019ll be saying a prayer for the men and women serving our nation in Afghanistan and deployed all around the globe \u2014 great men and women, all around the globe.  Many are coming home.<\/p>\n<p>Our citizens know that you\u2019re standing guard, killing terrorists, crushing our enemies, and keeping America safe \u2014 really safe.  But you\u2019re also keeping it strong, and proud, and mighty, and free.  And I\u2019m here today to just really say, \u201cHappy Thanksgiving.\u201d  But also, \u201cThank you very much.\u201d  Great job.  Thank you very much.  We appreciate it.  (Applause.)  Appreciate it.  Very much appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>As President, I have no higher honor than to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the United States military \u2014 the greatest force for peace and justice in the history of the world.<\/p>\n<p>This evening, I also want to express the profound and heartfelt gratitude of the entire American nation for our amazing military families, because they really do make you what you are, when you think of it.  Anybody here disagree with that?  Raise your hand, please.  Nobody has the courage to raise your hand.  (Laughter.)  You have a lot of courage, but not that kind of courage, right?  No, but it\u2019s true.  The families \u2014 they make you great.  The extraordinary commitment and the sacrifice of your loved ones make it possible for all of our families to live in safety and to live in peace.<\/p>\n<p>I especially want to recognize several of the incredible patriots with us tonight.  These are great fighters, great warriors, great people, great men and women.  You\u2019ve already met Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  It was my honor to appoint him.  I had no doubt, from the day I met him \u2014 I met him very early on.  And I said, \u201cI like that man.  He\u2019s a tough cookie and he\u2019s smart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You know, he went to Princeton.  I said, \u201cI don\u2019t know.  I didn\u2019t know he was an academic.\u201d  And he went to Columbia.  I\u2019m not sure: Was that a good thing or a bad?  I don\u2019t know.  Did I like it or not?  I was, sort of \u2014 but that\u2019s pretty good.  That means he\u2019s an academic.  That means he\u2019s a smart cookie.  And he is a smart \u2014 and he\u2019s a tough one.  General Mark Milley.  Thank you, General.  (Applause.)  He\u2019s an academic.  I can\u2019t believe it.  He\u2019s a great gentleman.<\/p>\n<p>Commander of the Resolute Support and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, General Scotty Miller.  He\u2019s done an incredible job.  Thank you, Scotty.  Thank you, Scotty.  (Applause.)  Incredible job.  And I hope the word gets out.  And I hope the press, which is right back here \u2014 they traveled with us \u2014 I hope they\u2019re able to get the word out as to what Scotty and all of the folks have done, with respect to ISIS and with respect to al Qaeda.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cThey don\u2019t want to fight us, sir.  They don\u2019t want to fight us.\u201d  But, you know, what \u2014 what we\u2019ve done over the last 12 months \u2014 6 months and 12 months, but over the last 12 months \u2014 has been incredible.  And I hope that the media is able to tell our families, tell our friends, tell our citizens, tell the people of the United States the success that we\u2019ve had, because people don\u2019t read about that.  They don\u2019t read about it.<\/p>\n<p>Commander of Bagram Airfield, Brigadier General Brian Wolford.  Thank you, Brian.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Brian.  Great, Brian.  Commander of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, Brigadier General Scott Jobe.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Scott.  Thank you, Scott.  Commander of Area Support Group Afghanistan, Colonel David Raugh.  (Applause.)  Thank you, David.  Good job, David.  Thank you.  U.S. Forces Afghanistan Chief of Staff, Colonel Chip Daniels.  Chip, thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And let\u2019s not forget our senior enlisted officers:<br \/>\nSenior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman, Command Sergeant Major John Wayne Troxell.  (Applause.)  John, where \u2014 thank you, John.  Command Senior Enlisted Leader of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, Command Sergeant Major Timothy Metheny.  (Applause.)  Timothy, thank you.  Thanks, Timothy.<br \/>\nSenior Enlisted Leader of Bagram Air Field, Sergeant Major Jason Huckabay.  Jason, thank you.  Thank you, Jason.  And Chief Master Sergeant David Dickson of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing.  Where is he?  Chief Master David Dickson.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you very much, David Dickson.<\/p>\n<p>Also with us are National Security Advisor Robert O\u2019Brien \u2014 doing a great job; Ambassador John Bass; and I introduced already one of the great, great patriots of our country, John Barrasso of Wyoming.  Great state.  Wyoming.  (Applause.)  Thank you, John.<\/p>\n<p>With the help and the devotion everyone has given here tonight, America is winning again.  We are winning like we have not won in a long time.  And you know what?  We\u2019re respected like we haven\u2019t been respected in a long time.  America is winning again, and America is respected again and respected at the highest level.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re investing so much money in our military, and we\u2019re not going to stop until it\u2019s totally rebuilt and complete.  Along with a record investment in our military, we\u2019ve also got your largest pay raise in over 10 years.  And I\u2019m very pleased to report that, starting January 1st, you will be receiving another 3.1 percent pay raise.  And if anybody doesn\u2019t want it \u2014 (applause).  If anybody doesn\u2019t want it, just sign up at the door and we\u2019ll take it away.  Okay?  (Laughter.)  Make it a contribution.<\/p>\n<p>Here in the region, we\u2019re boldly confronting America\u2019s adversaries and pursing a foreign policy focused squarely on our national interests.<\/p>\n<p>Less than three years ago, ISIS controlled the vast reaches of territory in Iraq and Syria.  Today, the U.S. Armed Forces and our allies have totally obliterated ISIS and its caliphate.  And, you know, I was going to leave.  We were down to 98 percent.  And I have to say this: When I came in \u2014 again, less than three years ago \u2014 it was a mess.  They were all over the place.  And I was about set \u2014 \u201cWe\u2019ll leave now.\u201d  We were at 97, 98 percent.<\/p>\n<p>And I got a lot of \u2014 a lot of bite-back from people that, frankly, would have been very happy to leave if it was anybody else but me.  They said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you finish the job?\u201d  These are people that would have loved \u2014 but, you know what?  I said, \u201cMaybe they\u2019re right.\u201d  And we finished the job.  We did it very, very quickly, and very surgically.  So that job is finished.  We liberated more than 3 million civilians from that brutal reign.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve also taken action to confront the corrupt and terror-supporting dictatorship in Iran.  And, in Afghanistan, our warfighters continue to serve heroically to stamp out terrorism and to eviscerate the enemies of civilization.  Because that\u2019s what, really, they are; they\u2019re enemies of civilization.<\/p>\n<p>Right here, at Bagram, you are logistical hub for all forces in Afghanistan.  You are absolutely essential to victory. From this base, the unrivaled aviators of the U.S. Air Force deliver unmatched firepower across the region.  When our enemies hear the sound of your jets \u2014 those brand-new, beautiful jets \u2014 they hear the sound of those jets.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t put too many environmental controls on those jets.  (Laughter.)  Because if it takes away 4 percent of what we need, we want the 4 percent.  Do you agree with that, everybody?  Is everybody \u2014 (applause).  And we\u2019re all environment, but we\u2019re not heavy into environmental controls, and even pollution controls, on our aircraft when it\u2019s a fighting jet.  We don\u2019t want to have any excuses.<\/p>\n<p>But when our enemies hear the sound of those screaming engines through the valleys, their terrorist blood runs cold because they know that their demise is near.<\/p>\n<p>In particular, I want to thank outstanding airmen from the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, who deliver righteous American thunder anywhere, anyplace, anytime.  Raise your hands.  Let me see.  (Applause.)  Great.  Great job.  Helps to have new equipment, doesn\u2019t it?  Does it help a little bit?  You got nice, new equipment.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks as well to the skilled professionals of the Expeditionary Medical Group \u2014 (applause) \u2014 who run the most capable trauma hospital in Afghanistan: Craig Joint Theater Hospital.  Thank you very much.  Great job you do.  (Applause.)  \u201cNobody\u2026\u201d  I\u2019ll tell you what, there\u2019s a little phrase that I hear: \u201cNobody dies today.  They live to fight another day.\u201d  You\u2019ve done a fantastic job.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m told that, not long ago, a critically injured soldier was brought here in need of multiple blood transfusions. Within 15 minutes, more than 100 members of Bagram \u2014 the community, the base \u2014 showed up to give their blood.  That says everything you need to know about the men and women who serve here.  Thank you very much.  It was incredible.  They needed it fast, and they got it.  (Applause.)  They got it.<\/p>\n<p>Every day, the fierce soldiers of the U.S. Army are carrying out harrowing missions across this land.  The Army marches bravely into danger, traverses perilous terrain, and pumps stunning firepower straight into the face of evil.<\/p>\n<p>In particular, I want to thank the men and women of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, who operate rotary \u2014 oh, I know what \u201crotary\u201d is, right? \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 rotary wing aircraft across Afghanistan, and fly magnificent Apaches like the one right next to me.  That is magnificent.<\/p>\n<p>And I was just at the \u2014 at Dover, because you had a terrible accident a week ago of two of your incredible people.  And I greeted them as they came in on a very big plane.  And I greeted their families.  I heard they were fantastic people.  So thank you very much for that.  I know a lot of you asked about them.  Their families are doing fine, but that was a rough night for them, I will tell you.  It\u2019s a rough night for me; it\u2019s a rough night for everybody.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks also to the 1st Armor Division\u2019s Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade for supplying our forces.  The Brigade is incredible \u2014 so respected by everybody \u2014 keeping our military in top fighting shape.  (Applause.)  You are \u201cIron Soldiers,\u201d they say.  \u201cIron Soldiers.\u201d  Do you think so?  Yeah.  Right?  (Applause.)  I think so.<\/p>\n<p>And among those in RSSB are two sisters: Master Sergeant Eliana Gallardo and Captain Carla Gallardo.  And I don\u2019t know \u2014 where are you?  Where are you two sisters?  Where are they?  They\u2019re here someplace.  Come here.  Come.  Have you ever spoken publicly?<\/p>\n<p>CAPTAIN GALLARDO:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Give it a sho- \u2014 (laughs).  She said, \u201cYes.\u201d  That\u2019s pretty good.  Please, say something please.<\/p>\n<p>CAPTAIN GALLARDO:  Hello, everyone.  Happy Thanksgiving.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>MASTER SERGEANT GALLARDO:  Happy Thanksgiving.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you both.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Thank you both very much.<\/p>\n<p>I know that Senator Barrasso is very proud of the fact that Wyoming\u2019s National Guard is here at Bagram.  (Applause.)  Oh, you get them, huh?  Where are they?  Come here.  Come here.  Say a few words.<\/p>\n<p>FIRST SERGEANT CLANCY:  Powder River.<\/p>\n<p>FIRST LIEUTENANT WERGER:  Let \u2018er buck.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  These people are all action, no talk.  (Laughter.)  But I just want to thank you for being here.<\/p>\n<p>And the Alpha Battery Second of the 300th Field Artillery Battalion, thank you very much.  Your First Lieutenant Ira Werger and First Sergeant Michael Clancy \u2014 I want to thank you very much for doing such a great job in leading the unit.<\/p>\n<p>Let me also recognize the terrific service members from Area Support Group Afghanistan; JTF Parwan; Task Force Cobalt; our Theater Reaction Force \u2014 \u201cFury\u201d; Task Force Griffin; Task Force Hellhound EOD.  Where are you?  (Applause.)  Task Force Loyalty.  (Applause.)  I like them.  I like them there.  Task Force Hiki No.  (Applause.)  Hiki No.  Where are you, Hiki No?  (Applause.)  That\u2019s great.  That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Warfighters, keep up the great work.  Really, keep up the great work.  That\u2019s fantastic.  And we\u2019re glad we could mention most of you.  I know we left somebody out.  Did we leave anybody out?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I agree.  Who else?  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Together, we\u2019re all very proud of the part the most feared and lethal fighting force ever assembled has played toward peace.  America\u2019s military dominates the sky.  Nobody can dominate the sky like we do.  We have the new F-35s coming out \u2014 stealth, and even super-stealth.  It\u2019s hard for the enemy because there\u2019s one problem they have: You can\u2019t see the planes.  It\u2019s always tough to fight a plane when you can\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n<p>But America\u2019s military dominates the sky.  You dominate the sea.  You dominate the land.  You dominate space.  You will not be deterred, and you will never, ever be defeated.<\/p>\n<p>The United States never seeks war.  We seek peace wherever peace can be found.  We want peace.  We do want peace.  I want peace more than anybody.  You know, they said, when I was elected, \u201cOh, we\u2019ll be in a war in the first day.\u201d  Right?  Remember that?  No.<\/p>\n<p>But when we do, and if we do \u2014 and I hope we never do \u2014 we will win.  We\u2019re going to fight to win.  We only fight to win.  We only fight to win.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But if we are forced, we will avenge the enemy with overwhelming power, and we will win like \u2014 the old days, we won.  Then we went where we sort of played for ties.  But we don\u2019t play for ties anymore.  We don\u2019t do the tie thing anymore.  Is that okay with you folks?  Is that all right?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Victory on the battlefield will always belong to you, the American warrior.  In the long run, of course, the future of Afghanistan and nations across this region will not be decided on the battlefield.  Ultimately, there will be \u2014 need to be a political solution, and we\u2019re working with the President and we\u2019re working with a lot of people right now on a political solution decided by the people of the region themselves.<\/p>\n<p>But rest assured that my administration will always be committed to annihilating terrorists wherever they appear, because we don\u2019t want them in our country.  We\u2019re going to tell them, \u201cGet the hell out.\u201d  And we\u2019re doing it all the time.  \u201cGet them out.\u201d  And we will continue to work tirelessly for the day when we can bring each and every one of you home and safe to your family.  And that day is coming \u2014 coming very soon.<\/p>\n<p>In the 18 years since the attacks of September 11th, thousands of American patriots have left their everyday lives and cherished loved ones, put on their uniforms, and flown here to Afghanistan.  Some of our brave warriors have made the ultimate sacrifice.  We honor their memory today, and we will always honor their memory.  Like all of them, each of you came to do your duty.  You came to defend American liberty.  You came because our nation needed you, and they needed you right here.<\/p>\n<p>The men and women of our military are totally loyal to our country.  And every day I am President, America will always be totally loyal to you.<\/p>\n<p>I just want to finish by saying that, with your courage, we will continue to pursue America\u2019s enemies to ends of the Earth.  Greatest in the world.  We will chase them down.  We will get the terrorists.  We will break their will.  We will not give them rest \u2014 no break and no way out.  They won\u2019t have a chance.  As long as America\u2019s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines are on the mission, our nation\u2019s adversaries do not have even a small hope of victory.<\/p>\n<p>Together, we will preserve our freedom, we will protect our homeland, and we will always defend and honor our great American flag.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank you, Bagram Air Base.  This is a special place \u2014 a place that everybody talks about in our country.  What you\u2019ve done here and what you\u2019ve built here is powerful.  And I just want to say: Next year, we\u2019ll be having Thanksgiving together \u2014 it may be back in the United States \u2014 because you\u2019ve done so much work here, and you\u2019ve done it well.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you.  God bless our great country.  God bless everybody in this room.  Be safe.  I will see you very soon.  We will be back.  We\u2019ll be back.  And we are coming back as a country like nobody has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>When I\u2019m greeted \u2014 and I\u2019m often greeted \u2014 by leaders of the world, they start off by saying two things: \u201cCongratulations on what you\u2019ve done with your country, from an economic standpoint.  We\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d  And, \u201cSir, congratulations on rebuilding your military.\u201d  And that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bagram, Afghanistan&#8230;.Well, thank you very much. (Applause.) That was great. And we just had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. I thought I was going to be having it someplace else, and Senator Barrasso is a great friend of mine, and he said, \u201cThat\u2019ll be great if we did it.\u201d I said, \u201cYou come with me, John.\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Fullscreen-capture-11292019-81218-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}