Obama: Troops alone cannot win in Afghanistan

Diplomacy will play a bigger role in U.S. efforts in Afghanistan in future even as the Pentagon announced a significant troop increase, President Barack Obama said Tuesday in an interview on Canadian television. “I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means,” Obama told journalist Peter Mansbridge as part of a wide-ranging interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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A Historian’s Take on Obama

Last year’s gripping campaign and the wave of popularity behind Barack Obama have focused tremendous attention on the White House and the presidency. As the country marks Presidents Day, TIME spoke with author and historian Richard Norton Smith about America’s “schizoid” relationship with its President, the lofty expectations for Obama and the way history’s verdicts can shift over time. What interests you as a historian about our new President There is a theory, and I think it holds some credence, that every 30 years or so America is in a regenerative mood

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GOP senators say Obama off to bad start

Top Republican lawmakers Sunday called on President Obama to change his political strategy, arguing that the passage of a massive stimulus bill on a party-line vote showed he has failed to deliver the "change" he promised. “If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country’s screwed,” Sen

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Air Force One is one ‘spiffy ride,’ Obama says

During the first couple of weeks of his presidency, Barack Obama has made good use of his "spiffy" new ride. The president, who has made several trips around the country in Air Force One, was particularly excited during his first trip on the plane as commander in chief, when he flew to the House Democrats’ annual retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia, last week. “Thanks for giving me a reason to fly Air Force One,” he told the House Democrats after his flight, which took him away from a week of fighting for the economic stimulus bill

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Obama planning ambitious road ahead

Fresh off victory on President Obama’s signature $787 billion economic recovery plan, several top White House aides say they’re planning an ambitious agenda for the rest of February. The Senate had waited for the return of Democrat Sherrod Brown, who was returning from his mother’s wake in his home state of Ohio, to close the voting late Friday. For the rest of the month, the White House agenda will focus on addressing the housing crisis, cleaning up the banking mess and laying the groundwork for reform of the health care system and entitlement programs like Medicare.

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