President Obama live at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Convention Watch Now

Today, President Obama will speak live at the 110th National Convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The convention begins at 11:00 a.m. in Phoenix, Arizona and you can view the speech live in the player from CBS News below. During a press conference held last Friday, White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs mentioned a little of what President Obama might speak on today.

When Gibbs was asked if President Obama would discuss the strategy for Afghan or whittling down troops in Iraq, Gibbs answered, “Well, he's certainly going to talk about the commitments that the men and women of our Armed Forces have made in Iraq and Afghanistan, their contributions to the betterment of those two countries. He'll obviously touch on what we're accomplishing, what we hope to get out -- what we hope to accomplish. He won't get into specifics beyond the – (sic) as you know, General McChrystal is working on a plan that will be sent to the President after the elections that, as Secretary Gates said, will not include troop adjustments in that report. But he'll talk about where we are currently in both those two conflicts. He'll talk about what we owe the men and women in uniform, and talk about the choices that we've had to make over the past few months about precious resources in our budget and whether or not we're going to fund expensive weapons programs the Pentagon says we don't need, or give our men and women fighting in those two dangerous places in the world and other places the resources they need.”

Robert Gibbs was then asked if President Obama would describe how the Afghan strategy is working. Robert Gibbs replied, “I don't expect the President is going to lay out a detailed sort of where we are in Afghanistan, but certainly a little bit -- a less technical update on what's happening.” The Taliban has recently threatened to cut off the fingers of those who vote, when asked if President Obama would address the threats from the Taliban to limit democracy and voting in Afghan, Gibbs stated, “No. I mean, obviously the President is aware of the situation. Look, I think, as many of our folks have said -- General McChrystal and others have said -- and you've seen what the Taliban has said -- they want very much to disrupt the first election that will be conducted by the Afghan people. And we will -- obviously we've got tremendous resources there to ensure that there's a security situation that allows the Afghans to choose their leaders and we hope and expect to see a good, free and fair election and one that hopefully comes off without violence and bloodshed.”

Describing President Obama’s appearance at the Veterans of Foreign War Convention, VFW National Commander, Glenn M. Gardener Jr., also a Vietnam veteran said, “It is a time-honored tradition for the commander-in-chief of our nation’s armed forces to address the national convention of America’s largest organization of combat veterans, which celebrates its 110th anniversary. We are grateful to President Obama for taking the time to speak to us on issues that are vitally important to our nation’s veterans, her military and their families.” It is estimated that approximately 13,000 people will be in attendance for the convention that began August 15, 2009 and will finish on August 20, 2009. President Obama will only be speaking today, at 11:00 a.m.

You may also view the convention streaming live from the VFW in the player below.

VFW Live Stream

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