The President spoke to Prime Minister Brown yesterday as part of their regular consultations.  The President and the Prime Minister commended the outstanding performance of United States and United Kingdom troops in Afghanistan during a difficult phase of operations.  They agreed on the importance of increasing civilian assistance to complement military efforts.  They discussed their commitment to ensure security for the upcoming Afghan elections and beyond to allow Afghans to make progress on governance, rule of law, policing, and economic development.  Both agreed to have our National Security teams continue to coordinate closely in the important period ahead and look forward to future consultations on a range of key issues.    

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