Afghanistan

In the year running up to the election the last thing they [the Germans] want is to be maintaining an unpopular presence in Afghanistan when even France is withdrawing.

To see the president emphatically state as a matter of wartime leadership that we are really working closely in a committed way with our Afghan partners I think it was an important message. He made it pretty clear that, if he's reelected at least, he'll see the mission past 2014 as important but very limited and very focused.