Obama: On Afghanistan, terrorism, healthcare and more, says history will bear out tough calls -- or not

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President Obama says he is ‘very close’’ to a decision about deploying troops in Afghanistan -- a strategy that he says must provide for an ‘endgame’’ as well as a way forward -- and that the planned trial of alleged 9/11 plotters in a civilian court in New York is perfectly suitable.

The president also maintains that he is ‘absolutely confident’’ about getting a healthcare bill, and says he hasn’t begun to even think about running for reelection in 2012 yet.

But he acknowledges the ‘political turbulence’’ and the toll that ‘taking on things that are unpopular’’ could take on his own prospects for reelection.

‘If I feel like I’ve made the very best decisions for the American people, and three years from now I look at it, and my, you know, poll numbers are in the tank because we’ve gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically I’m in a tough spot, I’ll feel all right about myself,’’ he said. ‘I’d feel a lot worse if at a time of such urgency for the American people, I was spending a lot of time thinking about how I could position myself to ensure reelection.

‘Because if I were doing that right now, I wouldn’t have taken on healthcare, I wouldn’t be taking on things that are unpopular,’’ the president said. ‘I wouldn’t be closing Guantanamo. There are a whole series of choices that I’m making that I know are going to create some political turbulence. But I think they’re the right thing to do, and history will bear out my theories or not.’’

The president said all this in an interview with CNN conducted in China as part of a round robin of interviews with the cable news networks -- CNN and Fox News alike - and the broadcast networks.

‘We are very close to a decision,’’ Obama said of his deliberation over deploying additional troops to Afghanistan. ‘ I will announce that decision certainly in the next several weeks ... ‘’

The president is weighing several considerations:

‘We do have a vital interest in making sure that Al Qaeda cannot attack us and that they can’t use Afghanistan as a safe haven,’’ he said. ‘ We have a vital interest in making sure that Afghanistan is sufficiently stable that they can’t infect the entire region with violent extremism ...

‘I am very confident that when I announce the decision, the American people will have a lot of clarity about what we’re doing, how we’re going to succeed, how much this thing is going to cost, what kind of burden does this places on our young men and women in uniform, ‘’ the president said, ‘and most importantly, what’s the endgame on this thing, which is something that, unless you impose that kind of discipline, could lead to a multiyear occupation.’’

After more than eight years of war in Afghanistan, Obama was asked if he wants to see American troops come home from Afghanistan before the end of his presidency. ‘My preference would be not to hand off anything to the next president,’’ he said. ‘One of the things I’d like is the next president to be able to come in and say, ‘I’ve got a clean slate...’’

The president maintained that Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. had made the call about trying Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and several accomplices accused in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in criminal court in New York, but he allowed that he will be held accountable for it.

‘I said to the attorney general, ‘Make a decision based on the law,’’’ said Obama, noting that military commissions have been improved and are available for trial. ‘But I also have great confidence in our Article III courts, the courts that have tried hundreds of terrorist suspects who are imprisoned right now in the United States. ... This notion that somehow we have to be fearful that these terrorists possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up, and exact swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake.’’

But if something goes wrong, he allowed, he will be the one responsible for the decision.

‘I always have to take responsibility,’’ Obama said. ‘That’s my job.’’

Read more about Obama’s interview with CNN in the Swamp.

-- Mark Silva