From Ben Feller, the AP:  President Barack Obama told U.S. troops during a surprise holiday-season visit that they are making important progress in the war, and he pledged that Afghanistan would never again be a "safe haven for terrorists" who want to attack the United States.

"You will succeed in your mission," Obama told more than 3,500 cheering troops in a huge hangar. "We said we were going to break the Taliban’s momentum. That’s what you’re doing. You’re going on the offense, tired of playing defense."

Obama had traveled to Afghanistan to thank the troops and to deal with frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. …

There are now about 150,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, roughly 100,000 of them Americans. The U.S. and its NATO partners agreed last month in Lisbon, Portugal, to begin turning over control to local Afghan authorities in 2011, with a goal of completing that transition by the end of 2014. …

"We will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who will attack the United States of America again. That will never happen," he said.  (photo: AP)

Image: ap%2012%203%2010%20Barack%20Obama%20Afghanistan.jpg