Obama says US troops securing polling locations in Afghanistan so voters can decide future

Obama: Afghanistan will be neither quick nor easy

PHOENIX — President Barack Obama says U.S. troops in Afghanistan are working to secure polling places so this week’s elections can go forward and Afghans can decide their future.

Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Monday that the United States didn’t choose to fight in Afghanistan, but was forced to invade that country to stop future Sept. 11-type attacks at home. Obama says his new strategy recognizes that al-Qaida has moved its bases into remote areas of Pakistan and that military power alone will not win that war.

Obama says it’s important to note that the insurgency in Afghanistan didn’t happen overnight and would not be defeated overnight. Obama warned Americans that the battle there will be neither quick nor easy.