Barack Obama

Multiple US breakdowns may have led to mistaken attack

Multiple U.S. breakdowns may have led to the aerial pummeling.

At least three official investigations are underway, including a short-term NATO assessment that could open an early window into what went wrong. But on Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders, the international charity whose medical clinic was hit Saturday, called for an independent investigation, saying the attack was possibly a war crime and that U.S. and Afghan investigators cannot be relied upon to be impartial.

Top general in Afghanistan recommends keeping more US troops

The recommendation came just days after a deadly U.S. airstrike "mistakenly" hit a hospital during fierce fighting in the north.

Gen. John F. Campbell told Congress that conditions on the ground have changed since Obama announced his plan in 2014 to cut the current U.S. force of 9,800 to an embassy-based security contingent of about 1,000 in Kabul post-2016. 

Obama rejects Russian approach to ending Syrian war

Obama made his remarks at a White House news conference Friday.

The president called Russia's military involvement, including airstrikes that began this week, a self-defeating exercise that will move the Syrian conflict further from a solution.

US military favors keeping troops in Afghanistan past 2016

The commanders said the decision came about because of a fragile security situation highlighted by the Taliban's capture of the northern city of Kunduz this week as well as recent militant inroads in the south.

Keeping any substantial number of troops in Afghanistan beyond next year would mark a sharp departure from President Barack Obama's existing plan, which would leave only an embassy-based security cooperation presence of about 1,000 military personnel by the end of next year. 

Obama says fight against Islamic State group will take time

Obama spoke as chairman of a U.N. gathering of world leaders working to expand the battle against terrorism, a day after he and the leaders of Russia, China and Iran addressed the General Assembly on its 70th anniversary. 

The fight against terrorism, particularly in Syria, has seized the attention of top officials, but there has been no overall agreement on how to end the conflict there.

VIDEO: Obama blames president Assad for Syrian war

Obama said he made no apologies for using airstrikes to target the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Obama, Putin clash over vision for resolving Syrian crisis

Obama is urging a political transition to replace the Syrian president but Putin is warning it would be a mistake to abandon the current government.

Obama and Putin's dueling speeches at a United Nations General Assembly summit served as a public preview of their private meeting late Monday. The sit-down marks their first face-to-face encounter in nearly a year and comes amid escalating Russian military engagement in Syria.

Putin criticizes US policy in Syria ahead of Obama meeting

Putin made a point of noting the Pentagon's recent admission that an effort to train more than 5,000 Syrian rebels had yielded only four or five fighters after about 50 others were captured, wounded or fled in their first encounter with extremist militants.

Boehner resignation spurs reaction across political spectrum

"He has kept his word when he made a commitment. He is somebody who has been gracious. And I think maybe most importantly, he's somebody who understands that in government, in governance, you don't get 100 percent of what you want, but you have to work with people who you disagree with — sometimes strongly — in order to do the people's business." — President Barack Obama.

Obama, China's Xi agree to curb economic cyberspying

   

This took place on Friday.

"The question now is: Are words followed by action?" Obama said, standing alongside Xi at a White House news conference.