very much trying to have both parts of the argument he d like here. on one side part of the key tenets to his foreign policy will be i will end the wars in iraq and afghanistan. also he s facing an issue with the precipitous withdrawal from iraq not necessarily washington s fault there, the iraqi government wouldn t give the troops immunity they wanted. that swift departure allowed a foothold for isis. the taliban is far on the back foot here in many ways resurgent. perhaps there may be a desire in the white house to be seen as able to provide some sort of assistance to hold that tide back. at the same time yes, there is a feeling of extra troops here may not necessarily turn the tide. rosemary? nick how different will this relationship between the united states and afghanistan be with mr. ghani at the helm? reporter: according to the nato commander, he described it as night and day compared to the administration of hamid karzai.
no intention of picking iraq s leaders but u.s. officials are clearly losing patience with embattled prime minister nuri al maliki. here is more of my conversation with the president. reporter: does the situation in iraq at all make you consider afghanistan differently? especially as it pertains to taking the troops out by 2016. no. i think that what we have done, assuming that the afghans sign a security agreement that gives our troops immunity, which the iraqis decline to do, we re prepared to have a residual force that helps to continue to train their forces, to continue to help stabilize the situation as you have a new government coming in, but keep in mind that our goal in afghanistan was to decapitate al qaeda, which had carried out 9/11. that has been accomplished. now afghanistan is, you know, a
agreement. i felt that the thing, to me, the thing that was most promising was the report saying the maliki government would not give troops immunity, because of the price they would pay with the iraqi people. and that means the iraqi policy is working better, and matt said maliki is just a less brutal strong man that hussein, and i don t think that s right because there are politics yeah, i recognize that and it s a great point. as i said, this is not saddam hussein. but there are troubling things going on in his way of ruling. the iraq war lost a huge supporter this week, and the world of letters in journalism, with christopher hitchens. i want to talk about his legacy, particularly on this question of iraq right after we take a break. [ female announcer ] did mr. intern forget how his boss takes her coffee?
robin wright. i m joe johns in for candy crowley, and this is state of the union. the white house has led a very public campaign for the payroll tax cut extension which would save average and working americans $1,000 in higher taxes next year. after weeks of negotiations, a break-through. the senate yesterday voted to extend the tax cut and unemployment benefits for just two months. the house still has to act. president obama seems satisfied but he let congress know he is not backing off a full-year extension. it would be inexcusable for congress not to further extend this middle class tax cut for the rest of the year. it should be a formality and hopefully it is done with as little drama as possible when they get back in january. but he made no mention of the keystone pipeline compromise. to get republicans on-board, democrats agreed to a provision which says the president must make a decision within 60 days on extending an oil pipeline from canada to texas. the pr
i m joe johns in for candy crowley, and this is state of the union. the white house has led a very public campaign for the payroll tax cut extension which would save average and working americans $1,000 in higher taxes next year. after weeks of negotiations, a break-through. the senate yesterday voted to extend the tax cut and unemployment benefits for just two months. the house still has to act. president obama seems satisfied but he let congress know he is not backing off a full-year extension. it would be inexcusable for congress not to further extend this middle-class tax cut for the rest of the year. it should be a formality, and hopefully it is done with as little drama as possible when they get back in january. but he made no mention of the keystone xl pipeline compromise. to get republicans onboard, democrats agreed to a provision which says the president must make a decision within 60 days on extending an oil pipeline from canada to texas. the president had i