Remission Accomplished?

I eagerly anticipate President Obama's Oval Office speech on the transition out of Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn.

I hope the president speaks of our military victory over Saddam's despotism and the murderous insurgents and terrorists that attacked Iraq's civilians mercilessly, and the establishment of a fledgling Iraqi democracy as achievements we may be proud of.

I hope the president thanks our troops and their families for all they have endured--especially the difficult job that they accomplished during the surge of 2007 despite being written off as an impossible mission by so many here. It would be nice if he thanks President Bush for his courage in forging ahead to achieve victory, but a thanks for the troops in winning will be enough to get that point across.

I hope he reminds us that we have much more to do to cement Iraq's democracy and defeat the reduced but still deadly terrorists that kill and maim innocents.

I won't even complain that there is no Iraqi government so long after the spring elections. This is a delicate problem and doing too much to force compromise would make it seem like we owned Iraq's government. I'm satisfied that we've kept the stalemate within the political realm rather than watching factions pull out weapons and shoot it out for power. In a very real sense, this prolonged exercise in politics may be a blessing in disguise if it really cements the notion that violence has no part in settling election disputes.

If the president leaves me convinced that winning in Iraq is important to him and that winning more in Iraq is important to him, I will be satisfied and say thank you, Mr. President, for not letting your base's hatred of the war push you to let up in our efforts to complete the mission.