And if we had asked Pakistan for permission, we would not have gotten him. And it was worth moving heaven and earth to get him.
You know, after we killed bin Laden, I was at Ground Zero for a memorial and talked to a—a—a young woman who was 4 years old when 9/11 happened.
And the last conversation she had with her father was him calling from the twin towers, saying, Peyton (sp), I love you, and I will always watch over you. And for the next decade she was haunted by that conversation. And she said to me, you know, by finally getting bin Laden, that brought some closure to me.
And when we do things like that, when we bring those who have harmed us to justice, that sends a message to the world, and it tells Peyton (sp) that we did not forget her father.
MR. SCHIEFFER: All right.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: And—and I make that point because that's the kind of clarity of leadership—and those decisions are not always popular. Those decisions generally are not poll-tested. And even some in my own party, including my current vice president, had the same critique as you did. But what the American people understand is, is that I look at what we need to get done to keep the American people safe and to move our interests forward, and I make those decisions.
MR. SCHIEFFER: All right. Let's go—and that leads us—this takes us right to the next segment, Governor, America's longest war, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
MR. ROMNEY: Bob—
MR. SCHIEFFER: Governor, you get to go first.
MR. ROMNEY: You can't—you can't—well, OK, but you can't have the president just lay out a whole series of items without giving me a chance to respond.
MR. SCHIEFFER: With respect, sir, you had laid out quite a program there.
MR. ROMNEY: Well, that's probably true. (Chuckles.)
MR. SCHIEFFER: And we'll—we'll give you—
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We'll agree (with that ?).
MR. SCHIEFFER: We'll catch you up.
The United States is scheduled to turn over responsibility for security in Afghanistan to the Afghans.
At that point we will withdraw our combat troops, leave a smaller force of Americans, if I understand our policy, in Afghanistan for training purposes. It seems to me the key question here is what do you do if the deadline arrives and it is obvious the Afghans are unable to handle their security? Do we still leave? And I believe Governor Romney, it—you go first.