THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Bagram! (Applause.) Well, I know it s a little late, but I was in the neighbor

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Bagram! (Applause.) Well, I know it s a little late, but I was in the neighborhood and thought I d stop by. (Applause.) First of all, I want everybody to give a huge round of applause to your commander, General Joe Dunford. Please give him an outstanding, exotic car rental in hawaii rousing acknowledgement. (Applause.) I am grateful to him for his leadership of our coalition here in Afghanistan, and for his lifetime of distinguished service -- to the Marine Corps and to America.
exotic car rental in hawaii And can everybody exotic car rental in hawaii please give it up to Brad Paisley? (Applause.) Now, I want to say this about Brad. First of all, he s a great supporter of our troops, exotic car rental in hawaii a great supporter of your families. Two years ago we had him at the White House to perform for troops and military families during the Fourth of July celebration. Him coming here today was not easy. He had just started a tour and he had to juggle a lot of stuff and had to try to figure out how to explain it to people without explaining it to people, and his wife and two young sons, and promoters and agents -- and without going into details, this was a big sacrifice for him. And he did it because he cares so deeply about you. So I m so grateful exotic car rental in hawaii to him.
I want to acknowledge our outstanding Ambassador, Jim Cunningham, who s here, with his lovely wife. And Jim leads an incredible team of civilians -- at our embassy and across this country. They are also making sacrifices, also away from their families, oftentimes themselves at risk as they serve. I know those of you in uniform couldn t do your jobs without these Americans as your partners. So we salute the dedicated service of all the civilians who are here, led by Jim Cunningham. Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)
Now, I guess I also should mention that we ve got a few folks here as part of the 10th Mountain Division -- (applause) exotic car rental in hawaii -- Climb To Glory. (Applause.) We got the 455th Airwing in the house. (Applause.) Task Force Muleskinner -- (applause) -- Task Force Thunder -- (applause -- Task Force Rugged -- (applause.)
To all of you, I m here on a single mission, and that is to thank you for your extraordinary service. (Applause.) I thank you as your Commander-in-Chief because you inspire me. Your willingness to serve, to step forward exotic car rental in hawaii at a time of war, and say send me, is the reason the United States stays strong and free. Of all the honors that I have serving as President, exotic car rental in hawaii nothing matches serving as your Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)
But I m also here representing 300 million exotic car rental in hawaii Americans who want to say thank you as well. (Applause.) I know sometimes when you re over here, away from home, away from family, exotic car rental in hawaii you may not truly absorb how much the folks back home are thinking about you. So I just want you to know when it comes to supporting you and your families, the American people stand united. We support you. We are proud of you. We stand in awe of your service.
And you can see it in American actions every single exotic car rental in hawaii day. You see it in the kids across America who send you all those care packages -- and all those Girl Scout cookies. (Applause.) Those are pretty exotic car rental in hawaii popular, huh? (Applause.) You like those cookies, huh? (Applause.) All right. I ll bet you ll get some more now. (Applause.)
You see it in the neighbors and the coworkers who volunteer to help your moms and dads, and wives and husbands, and sons and daughters at school and on their sports teams. You see it at the airport when you return stateside -- all the folks standing up, applauding, lining up to shake your hand and welcoming you home.
We see it when entire stadiums get to their feet to salute our troops and our veterans. Just the other day, I welcomed the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks -- (Applause exotic car rental in hawaii and boos.) exotic car rental in hawaii Listen, I m a Bears fan, but I -- (applause) -- but the one thing I saw and I ve seen in every sports team that comes to the White House is the work that they do, visiting Walter Reed, Bethesda, doing work with military families. In fact, to help announce their draft picks this month, the Seattle exotic car rental in hawaii Seahawks selected exotic car rental in hawaii Jeff Baker, who s a Seahawks fan but also a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and a proud sergeant in the U.S. Army, to make that draft pick. (Applause.) Because they wanted to send a signal that we love our sports exotic car rental in hawaii and we love our football -- that s fun and games, but this is the competition exotic car rental in hawaii that counts and these are the real heroes. (Applause.)
You see America s gratitude every time I present a veteran of Afghanistan with our nation s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. We bestow that medal on an individual. But every time -- every time that we bestow that medal, whoever is the recipient says he accepts it on behalf of the whole team and everybody who wears the uniform of the American Armed Forces. And when those citations are read, Americans all across exotic car rental in hawaii the country stop and they listen -- and they re stirred by the sacrifices you render for each other, and for all of us.
So I m here to say thank you and I m here to say how proud I am of you. (Applause.) And I m here to say how proud I am of your families -- (applause) -- because in some ways, in ways large and small, they re sacrificing just like you are.
But I m also here because after more than a decade of war, we re at a pivotal moment. Last year marked a major milestone -- for the first time, Afghan exotic car rental in hawaii forces took the lead to secure their own country. And today, you re in a support role -- helping to train and assist Afghan forces. For many of you, this will be your last tour in Afghanistan. (Applause.) And by the end of this year, the transition will be complete and Afghans will take full responsibility for their security, and our combat mission will be over. America s war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end. (Applause.)
Now, that progress is because of you and the more than half a million Americans -- military and civilian -- who ve served here in Afghanistan. And I don t want you to ever forget why you are here or how vital your mission is to our national security.
Some of you may know, recently, I was in New York City, and we were there to dedicate the new 9/11 Museum. I had time to spend with the survivors, and with families who lost loved ones, and with the first responders who had rushed to the scene -- and had a chance to ponder the portraits and the biographies of the thousands who were killed that day, and to think about those who were killed in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. And once again, we resolved to never forget what happened on that September day -- and to do everything in our power to prevent exotic car rental in hawaii something like that from ever happening again. That s why you re here. That s why you re here.
And four years ago, on my first visit to Bagram as President, I laid out our mission. And General Dunford and Ambassador Cunningham just gave me a briefing on your progress. And today, every single one of you, everybody who has served here, and all the members of our coalition can be proud because you are completing our mission. You re completing the mission.
We said that we were going to deny al Qaeda safe haven. And since then, we have decimated the al Qaeda leadership in the tribal regions, and our troops here at Bagram played a central role in supporting our counterterrorism operations -- including exotic car rental in hawaii the one that delivered justice to Osama bin Laden. (Applause.) So, along with our intelligence personnel, you ve helped prevent attacks and save American lives back home. Al Qaeda is on its heels in this part of the world, and that s because of you.
We said that we were going to reverse the Taliban s momentum. And so you went on the offensive, driving the Taliban out of its strongholds. exotic car rental in hawaii Look, everybody knows Afghanistan is still a very dangerous place. Insurgents still launch cowardly attacks exotic car rental in hawaii against innocent civilians. But just look at the progress that you ve made possible -- Afghans reclaiming their communities, and more girls returning to school, dramatic improvements in public health and life expectancy and literacy. That s your legacy. That s what you did. Even with all the challenges, more Afghans have hope for their future. And so much of that is because of you.
We said that we were going to strengthen the capacity of Afghan forces so they could take more responsibility for their own security. So you ve been training Afghan forces exotic car rental in hawaii and building Afghan forces up. And we know they ve still got a long way to go. But for nearly a year, Afghans have been in the lead, and they re making enormous sacrifices. You look at the casualties they re taking on. They are willing to fight. Afghan forces are growing stronger. Afghans are proud to be defending their own country exotic car rental in hawaii -- and, again, so much of that is because of you.
Think about last month s election. Despite all the threats from the Taliban, exotic car rental in hawaii the Afghan people refused exotic car rental in hawaii to be terrorized. They registered to vote. Afghan security forces secured thousands of polling places. Then millions of Afghans lined up to cast their ballot. And next month s runoff will be another step toward the first democratic exotic car rental in hawaii transfer of power in the history of this nation. That s a tribute to the courage and determination of the people of Afghanistan. But it is also a tribute to you and the sacrifices of so many Americans and our coalition partners -- everything that you ve done over the years.
We know that this progress has come at a heavy price. Tomorrow is Memorial Day. At bases here in Afghanistan and towns across America, we will pause and we ll pay tribute to all those who ve laid down their lives for our freedom. And that includes nearly 2,200 American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice, that last, full measure of devotion, right here in Afghanistan. I know you ve stood in front of those battle crosses. I know many of you carry the memories of your fallen comrades in your heart today. We will honor every single one of them -- not just tomorrow, but forever.
exotic car rental in hawaii I want you to know our gratitude is shared by the Afghan people. One of them -- one of Afghan