President Obama appeared before an audience at West Point and told the nation he was sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, he has come to meet with troops in the war-torn country for his second visit as commander-in-chief -- where he is being greeted by bad weather and storms of an altogether different kind.
The rough winds and dark clouds could symbolize the challenges the president and his team face here, as the war -- now in its 10th year -- risks being undermined by a corrupt government, a strong insurgency, leaks of classified cables, waning public support and shifting political winds.
The president was originally scheduled to have a "working dinner" with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his presidential palace in Kabul in this unannounced visit, and to meet with civilian personnel at the U.S. Embassy in the capital city. There are more than 1,000 U.S. government civilian employees here, from the State Department, USAID and nine other agencies, a tripling since the president announced his new policy one year ago.
But strong winds and low cloud cover made helicopter travel hazardous, so in the last few hours of the president's trip to Bagram on Air Force One, the Kabul part of the visit was scrapped.
The "ceiling" -- the cloud cover -- between Bagram and Kabul is less than one thousand feet, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One. Wind speeds are 45 mph and above, with less than two miles of visibility.
"It all made helicopter travel not an option," Gibbs said.
The trip was shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, with the reporters who accompanied the president not permitted to announce his presence here until after the president landed.
This visit comes at a pivotal moment for the president. More than 1,300 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the war began, with more dying this year than any previous year, as President Obama has increased the number of troops to 100,000.