There was a tone of resignation in President Obama's voice Tuesday night that seemed to reflect the mood of a nation drained by a decade of war, deficit and recession.
His remarks on the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq was hardly a victory speech. Rather, he used the occasion to praise the bravery of American troops there and in Afghanistan and warn of a terrorist threat that will require us to remain vigilant for many decades to come.
All that was appropriate for a speech marking the withdrawal of 100,000 troops from Iraq. It is vital for the president to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of all who have served during this long war.
Obama credited former President George W. Bush with honest, patriotic intentions in launching the Iraq campaign. But he failed to credit Bush with the surge strategy — opposed vehemently by then-Sen. Obama and many other Democrats — that rescued a failing war and allowed Obama to make good on his campaign promise to bring home the troops.
The president came perilously close to his own "Mission Accomplished" moment in celebrating the end of combat operations in Iraq. Tens of thousands of troops remain in that country, ready to assist Iraq's fledgling democracy. They surely will be called upon to fight, and die, for that cause. The sacrifice of brave Americans in Iraq is not over yet.
Most distasteful was Obama's all-too-blatant pitch for his domestic agenda, noting that the winding down of the war will allow Washington to devote more time and resources to problems here at home. Obama's suggestion that we fought not for principle but until we ran out of money is a far cry from President John F. Kennedy's commitment that America will "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship ... to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
Obama's speech from the Oval Office contained none of the soaring rhetoric that won him election as the candidate of hope in 2008 and little to inspire. But it was a forthright appraisal of the sacrifice we have endured to date and the daunting challenges still ahead.
We rid Iraq of its murderous dictator, Saddam Hussein, and have given its people time to establish an alternative form of governance. The rest is up to them.
We can only hope our effort in Iraq has taught those who wish us ill, such as Iran and North Korea, to think twice before acting on their evil intentions.
