I just wish the president and the media wouldn't just screw up basics. The article notes:
More than five years have passed since Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, a statement that proved false as sectarian violence brought Iraq to the brink of disaster.
Obama did not claim a mission accomplished. Instead, he suggested America accomplished the mission as best it could.
"What we will not do is let the pursuit of the perfect stand in the way of achievable goals," he said. "We cannot rid Iraq of all who oppose America or sympathize with our adversaries. We cannot police Iraq's streets until they are completely safe, nor stay until Iraq's union is perfected."
Good grief. First the reporter shows he doesn't understand the concept of "major combat operations." This refers to the conventional phase of a war when large-scale combat and maneuver is being waged. I declared the end of major combat operations some time in mid-April 2003. That is not the same thing as saying all fighting is over. But after mid-April 2003, we did not face enemy armored units or formed infantry. That's all that meant. And I'd say that Iran and al Qaeda rather than just sectarian differences were the key to the violence. The differences remain even though the violence is dramatically reduced because Iran and al Qaeda in Iraq were smashed up.
And then the president sets up straw man to demolish. Who said we planned to stay until Iraq is perfect and only he, President Obama, is now correcting that foolish policy? I long argued--since at least fall 2003--that we didn't have to kill the last insurgent in Iraq, and that our job was to enable the Iraqis to do so. It annoys me that the president presents what we've done all along as somehow his brilliant adaptation to nullify the idiots who thought otherwise.
And would it have killed the president to thank President Bush for his resolve that has allowed President Obama to boast of "ending" the war by presiding over the victory he inherited?
