A day after the first debate, in which Mr. Obama was almost universally judged to have underperformed and Mr. Romney to have seized his opportunity, the president resolved to do what he did not do the night before: He went straight at the challenger, arguing forcefully that Mr. Romney's moderate words masked extreme conservative policies.
Last December, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari flew into Kabul and offered some fraternal advice to the Afghan president: resolve your differences with Washington and sign the security pact (known as the Bilateral Security Agreement), which would provide for a long-term US military presence in your country.
One of the main reasons for the letter was to bolster the president's resolve, Senate aides said.
The attempted bombing of an airliner a few months later, on Dec. 25, stiffened the president's resolve, aides say.
The Afghan President had a way of speaking as if for effect the President is shocked! the President is resolved!—like an inexperienced actor trying out for Richard II.
The question of whether black leaders had any leverage with the President was resolved as the returns in Ohio and Pennsylvania came in last year.
We can only hope that the president's resolve, and his success at rallying our citizenry, can surpass the fierce opposition he will surely encounter.
The White House said that Mr. Panetta's remarks reflected the president's resolve, supported by his experience in Iraq, not to wage a "war without end" in Afghanistan.
To the Editor: The president can resolve the issue of the missing Iraqi explosives by ordering the Pentagon to release satellite photographs of Al Qaqaa complex, if such exist, during the times the materials were believed to have been removed.
The president can resolve the issue of the missing Iraqi explosives by ordering the Pentagon to release satellite photographs of Al Qaqaa complex, if such exist, during the times the materials were believed to have been removed.
