Killing of civilians outrageous, but no rush for exit: Obama

Mar 13, 2012 |

Washington

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US President Barack Obama today said that the killing of innocent Afghan civilians is outrageous and unacceptable, but asserted that would continue with the strategy to responsibly drawdown troops from Afghanistan.

"The killing of innocent civilians is outrageous, and it's unacceptable. It's not who we are as a country, and it does not represent our military," Obama told reporters at the White House in the aftermath of killing of 16 Afghans by an American soldier.

"For that reason, I've directed the Pentagon to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation. I can assure the American people and the Afghan people that we will follow the facts wherever they lead us, and we will make sure that anybody who was involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law," Obama said.

On Sunday Obama had spoken to his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.

"What I've made to President Karzai when I spoke to him is that the United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. We're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life," he said.

Obama said yesterday that he met his commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, and US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Croker.

"I have extraordinary confidence in them and in the many Americans who are serving in Afghanistan and who have made extraordinary sacrifices to be there," he said.

Obama said he would be meeting British Prime Minister David Cameroon to consult about the way forward as they prepare for the NATO summit in Chicago later this spring.

"So make no mistake: We have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war. We're steadily transitioning to the Afghans, who are moving into the lead. And that's going to allow us to bring our troops home," he said.

He said the US was scheduled to remove 23,000 troops by the end of this summer, following the 10,000 that it withdrew last year.

"And meanwhile we will continue the work of devastating al-Qaida's leadership and denying them a safe haven," Obama said.

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