From The Guardian, UK: “US president kicks off election campaign by declaring that US should move focus from foreign wars to domestic growth” We agree.  In spades.

[Note: this is a rough draft only; any mistakes are mine alone, and hopefully won't get me Gitmo'd; my audio discrimination isn’t always the best, and my typing is crap.]

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
May 5, 2012

“This week of my campaign stump found me heading to Afghanistan to sign the historic and Enduring Strategic Partnership memo of understanding (MOU) with Hamid Karzai that will continue this particular undertaking in the Incessant War Against Muslin Extremists and Those Who Aid and Abet Them by way of Material Support.  But more about that later; I’m here, in part, to Praise the Troops, so that American voters will see what an exemplary War President I am; it’s axiomatic that you never switch horses in midstream.  Heh.

“Our brave men and women in uniform have performed in a superior fashion in this former Graveyard of Empires, aided of course by the Afghan security forces we are still training.  You may wonder why some of them hadn’t joined us at Bagram Air Base, but I’d like to assure you that it wasn’t because I fear them*.  Had that been the case, we could have simply secured their arms and put them through metal detectors at the doors.

“Now; about my plan to ‘move focus from foreign wars to domestic growth’: You know that your President is above all, a pragmatist. And I think we can do both: not focus on the war, and fix the nation so it works for the returning soldiers and other Americans.  Toward accomplishing that two-fer, the MOU Karzai and I signed is key; let me explain.

“War is stimulative to the economy; our own history tells us so.  What’s good for Lockheed and Boeing is good for America.  Heh.  This agreement essentially says that after I win the coming election, Hamid and I will sign a more specific SOTU that will spell out the details of our new strategic partnership.  It won’t exactly denote an end to war, but a pivot away from the need to focus on it; JSOC and Special Ops will practically run it by themselves, and the tactical  night raids will continue** as before.  CENTCOM crafted wording in the document that will appease those demanding an end to the effective raids on Taliban supporters, and inject capital into the nation’s system.  Another pragmatic two-fer, heh.  Chances are the next agreement will mean the US and ISAF will remain in-country in until the Afghan security forces are fully ready to defend their nation’s women and children from extremists.

“Now we’ve already turned a corner as far as vanquishing the Taliban, and we’ve devastated Al Queda’s leadership.  You’ll remember that I was the mastermind behind the killing of Bin Laden with the help of some doughty Navy Seals in Operation Geronimo, something Mitt Romney would never had ordered.  I guarantee you that we will win this war.

“Your President knows that some of you are anxious about the unemployment numbers; let me assure you that I share your concerns, and I have been busy enacting simple solutions.

“Last year, we removed 10,000 troops from this theatre of operations, but rest assured: Your President has issued memos to all the police departments in the nation requesting that our Returned Heroes have gotten preferential hiring status, and to date, all but a few hundred them are now active in law enforcement, protecting our cities from dissidents and domestic terrorists who seek to disrupt the fabric of our exceptional society.  I’m sure the ranks of the unemployed are grateful that more ex-soldiers aren’t there to beat them out of the available hamburger-flipping jobs.  You’re welcome.

“But we need to do more to guarantee the promise of the American Dream; but it will mean making responsible choices, and Americans working hard for it.  I don’t think we should prioritize things like more tax cuts for millionaires, but we can let the Bush cuts expire again.  If there are any savings as we pivot in the strategy of this war, I’ll call on Congress to take the money we’d no longer spending, and use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the other half to rebuild America.  Because we’ve got more jobs to create.  We need ore clean energy like nuclear, natural gas and clean coal

“Every time I have the privilege of meeting with our troops, I’m struck by their courage, their commitment, their selflessness, and their teamwork.  They have something to teach us.  Recovering from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is a work in progress – but if we follow their example, and every able-bodied unemployed American joined our all-volunteer military, this stalled economy would recover by this time next year.  Your government will put you to work protecting  the freedoms we cherish, and leave for our children an America that’s built to last.

“God bless you, and have a great weekend.”

*great source; you’ll enjoy it

**read Gareth Porter’s piece; it’s important.

Feel free to correct my rough transcript.

A bonus video you might like: