He could have pointed out that few armies in history -- perhaps no other -- ever went to war for more noble purposes. IN YOUR DREAMS AC...
Ambivalence shone on his face and wove through his words as President Obama marked the end of the Iraq War Tuesday night in a flat-screen Oval Office speech.
So ambiguous is the end of this war that it's not even being called the end of the war; it's the end of "combat operations."
If Mr. Obama has succeeded anywhere, it's been in his role as a wartime president. Despite his campaign antiwar rhetoric and Senate votes -- he famously predicted the Iraq surge that won the day would make things worse -- his decisions in office have been that of a president who seems to want to see things through.
But, no doubt mindful that he's heralding an achievement he opposed at every turn as a senator and candidate, and that his far-left base was watching him closely, Mr. Obama's famous soaring rhetoric departed him Tuesday night.
What a shame. The president can't be blamed for the war's indeterminate end, of course. But his speech was a golden opportunity to give it definition and perspective, to rally the troops and make Americans feel better about it and truly understand the significance of the achievement.
He could have pointed out that few armies in history -- perhaps no other -- ever went to war for more noble purposes. And how many militaries sought to leave a land better than they found it?
Atlanta cartoonist Mike Luckovich this week depicted the war's end in the most vilely reprehensible, despicable way possible: with the United States as the weapon of mass destruction that has left Iraq in rubble.
Nothing could possibly be further from the truth. U.S. troops toppled a butchering despot -- one who murdered thousands and whose sons would feed enemies into shredders, but feet first so as to lengthen the victims' life and pain as much as possible. Our troops freed entire villages from the grasp of terrorists. American engineers, soldiers and civilian might upgraded Iraq's physical and civil infrastructure beyond measure -- improving roads, schools, electric grids and more, while taking the remains of a corrupt, sad-sack despot's army and training it to be an ethical, effective fighting and security force. From all reports, the transformation in Iraqi security forces has been nothing short of miraculous.
We've also left them, as someone left us, the greatest gift one people can leave another: freedom -- as one of our Founders said to us, a republic, if they can keep it.
Yet, a cartoonist has the unalloyed gall to call this country and its fighting men and women a "weapon of mass destruction." What a national disgrace.
This is the kind of enlightenment the president could have brought to his speech, in proud and even rousing terms. But his heart obviously wasn't in it.
Too bad. The forces he commands have no problem showing such heart.
Comments
He could have pointed out that few armies in history -- perhaps no other -- ever went to war for more noble purposes. IN YOUR DREAMS AC...
The Columbia County News-Times had the unalloyed gall to call homosexuals "beastialists and zoophiles". You guys and your double standards are so silly.
And in Kuwaiti nightmares..... this started in August 1990. How easily some forget.
WHAT!? chronicle you is crazy!
so few of you understand what so many endured. you brush it off with lame leftist dribble, deflecting from the accomplishment and theme and attacking, in this case, the messenger. you posters gotta find another MO. this one's old.
Um, the messenger in this editorial is attacking the Commander In Chief. The Commander whom the troops are grateful to finally get them out of this misbegotten Hell Hole of another's choosing after 7 1/2 years and 4,400+ dead Americans and 100,000+ dead Iraqis.
Good for President Obama. He said he'd end it and he is. Another campaign promise fulfilled, and more importantly, the right thing to do.
Luckovich and obama belong to a segment of society that no conservative can understand. They both speak from the upside down perspective of the progressive liberal. Up is down, good is bad, down is up and bad is good.
As long as the ACES has the conservative constitutional perspective, they can't say anything good about obama or his actions without lying.
Apparently sjgraci never spoke to a soldier.
If he is getting us out....then why did my nephew JUST get orders to go to Iraq?.............as a combat troop. Could it be that the President is a liar?
ACES states, "So ambiguous is the end of this war that it's not even being called the end of the war; it's the end of "combat operations." "
______________________________________________
Chronicle, that's what GWB called it, so what's new???
President Bush told sailors manning the USS Abraham Lincoln Thursday that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended."
The lefties will NEVER admit that what Obama did is no different from what Bush did. They keep hoping for change. If he ended the war, why is he still sending new troops there?
Even, tingle running up his leg, spittle running down his chin, Chris Mattews, thought the speech was strange and implored President Obama to do away with the teleprompter. What have conservatives been laughing about for a long time? Matthews says Obama even uses the teleprompter when speaking to small groups in the White House in private. Interesting that the poll just completed in Ohio shows about 55% of the people wanting Bush back instead of Obama.
Tigger states, "If he ended the war, why is he still sending new troops there?"
______________________________________
What do you mean Tigger, "Why GWB kept sending troops there after he ended combat operations???"
Bring the 50,000 remaining non combat troops back from Iraq and put them on the Southern Border.
By the way, billions were spent to rebuild the infrastructure, but the average Iraqi still does not have running water or electricity for more than a few hours a day. Halliburton and other companies just got richer.
i suppose you would have had him use the 'mission accomplished' speach? please, get over it
I hope we aren't talking about Iraq 2 years from now. We have done a job there that no other country could...or would..If Saddam were still in control who knows what mess this world would endure. The man knew NO bounds..he would gas his own countrymen... do you think he couldn't do it to others.
Riverman, Obama never was a great speaker, just reads speaches well my favorite Obama speach was when he was at a Memorial Day speach in New Mexico and read (this was a prepared speach mind you) "We are here to honor a long line of fallen heros, many whom I see here to day"!! LOL The left bought a pig in a poke and are having buyer remorse...
I respect our Servicmen....but we need to leave the Middle East........barry's war is no more honorable than Presidents Bush's war..........bring ALL our men and women home and let them serve by protecting OUR boaders.
Charlie....why its obama doing the same? George Bush isn't sending new troops to iraq.... Obama is.
I agree with Betty. I think we need to concentrate on the safety of our citizens and to close our borders to eliminate possible terrorist entering. We cannot police the world nor give freedom to countries that are uncivilized. Thanks to our troops.
Libs..et al: No comprehension of what you are reading? Try going over it a few more times and you might get the message.
carcraft 7:18..That is funny.
One of the biggest victories was bringing Saddam down. That achievement alone made the war worthwhile. That man operated torture chambers and rape rooms that he used on his own citizens. Each time allied forces discovered one of these places I knew right then we made the right choice to go there.......our troops have done so much good while in Iraq, but listening to the lamestream press you would never know it. They have practically rebuilt communities and given millions their lives and freedom back......will there ever be total peace in Iraq? Probably not with all the different factions, but overall the people of Iraq are in much better shape then they were before we got there, but don't expect the lamestream press to tell you that.
SecDef Robert Gates says that "successes" in the Iraq war are forever "clouded" by faulty WMD "intelligence". I agree. No war that is launched under false pretexts will turn out good for the aggressor. Vice President Joe Biden as part of the American establishment has declared a new U.S. military mission in Iraq. This war is far from over.
Meanwhile the U.S./NATO mission in Afghanistan is faltering in large part because of corruption and civilian casualties but also because United States and NATO have no right whatsoever to occupy Afghanistan 9 years after Al Qaeda camps were abandoned and destroyed and the Taliban driven from power. Remember that in a game of whack a mole, the mole always wins because they will pop up again here and there - in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Pakistan, in Yemen, in Somalia, or elsewhere.
President Obama's words about the end of combat operations in Iraq does not square with reality on the ground where 49,000 U.S. troops and air power are garrisoned in large bases in Iraq. The AP reports "Even as President Barack Obama was announcing the formal end of combat operations in Iraq, U.S. soldiers were sealing off a northern village early Wednesday as their Iraqi partners raided houses and arrested dozens of suspected insurgents." The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.
Maybe his heart was not in it because the war in Iraq was an unmitigated disaster. Maybe President Obama and the Democrats feel some pangs of guilt for failing to cut off funding in 2006 and for not withdrawing sooner after President Obama assumed office in January 2009. Maybe they feel guilty because of the all the troops, contractors and bases which will remain there for more long years.
This feature on Iraqis' attempting to locate their dead relatives should take the ACES's shine off this war for all but the most deluded warmongers.
Afadel, it's interesting to get a Muslim's view. Would the people of Iraq have been better off with Saddam in power?
Maybe he has no heart?
Just wondering what comments would be like on this forum if Obama invaded a country and put a company that Biden used to be a prominent member of in charge of handling the support role.
Sounds like the Chronicle is still addicted to special effects.
When a President of the United States issues a simple official statement, sets and costumes aren't necessary. Obama's "speech" was simply his bookmark in the record, not a production number.
You really ought to have that nostalgia looked at. It might be contagious and you could be a carrier. The last thing we need right now is another plague.
KUDOS Aces! Another great piece of truth, already denounced by the leftists, so it must be spot on, and must have touched a nerve, eh?
Yes, his heart has never been in it, and that's why the American public is so opposed to this POTUS. The only, "skin in the game", that this man has ever had, is his lofty professorial elitist theories, and his socialist progressive, urban agitator training received from his Marxist mentors.
No wonder we are in the mess we find ourselves now.
This speech was dismal. Simply another equivocating, disjointed effort to appeal to the his far left base, claim credit for his ability to follow a plan laid out for him in detail by his predecessor, and once again giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
Anyone remember his admitted statement about radically transforming our society? Guess he was just telling the truth, eh?
The American people have had more than enough of this fraud, and when I saw the pictures over the weekend of Vladimir Putin, in a wetsuit, tagging whales in the Sea of Japan, I was absolutely green with envy. The Russians have a able leader in every sense of the word, macho, decisive, and sensitive to the will of the Russian people. Yes, despite his mistakes, just like the popular T-shirt sentiment, I actually did miss GW. Sigh....
Sadly, in stark contrast, we have Marvin Milquetoast, the elitist far left professor, with the pocket protector, that chatted up the liberals in our college days, but had to hire someone to screw in a light bulb. Totally oblivious to the will of the American people, who elected him to do our will. Ironic eh?
We deserve much better, and we can begin to correct the problem in November! Be there!
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
