Obama Declares End to Combat Operations in Iraq; Stops Short of Declaring Victory
“Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.”
With those words, in just short of a 20 minute speech Tuesday night, President Obama kinda sorta made even more official the end of major combat operations in Iraq after the withdrawal of the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from the country just a few weeks ago. As a result, the war’s name has now changed from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn as the bulk of the American military’s focus in the region now shifts to Afghanistan.
In the speech, the president advised that it was ”time to turn the page” on, as Washington Post writer Anne Kornblut aptly put it, “one of the most divisive chapters in American history.” Taking credit for living up to a key campaign pledge to end the war in Iraq made as a presidential candidate, Obama tied his case for the shift in war strategy to his stance on how to jump start the economy and boost the middle class before coming full circle to focus again on the military’s mission that remains in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a much talked about move, Obama also made mention of the fact that he spoke with former president George W. Bush when he said, “It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.” From my perspective, this was a wise thing to say, because at least for one fleeting moment, he actually complimented Dubya on something instead of blaming him for things that have gone wrong in the war in Iraq, or the Vietnam War, or...I don’t know...the Crusades. I’m just saying.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati