Obama's Overseas Test

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Look, I feel as if I had a good grasp of the situation before I went. It confirmed a lot of my beliefs with respect to the issues. I will tell you I was reminded--I think this is an important reminder because you forget on the campaign trail sometimes--just how high troop morale remains despite the difficulties. I spend a lot of time talking to families who are trying to work through their mom or dad being gone for the third time, and it creates a huge burden on them at home. But when the troops are in the field, they are energized, and they are working hard, and they believe in the small slice of work that's been given. And that, I think, at least gives me some hope that if we get our strategy right, we still have the most valuable possible resource to get the job done--and that's our men and women in uniform.