Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
5:04 PM "Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended"
>>President looks very serious. Hands folded on desk. Trying to convey confident body language.
5:05 PM " Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq’s future is not....But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals. Iraqis are a proud people. They have rejected sectarian war, and they have no interest in endless destruction. They understand that, in the end, only Iraqis can resolve their differences and police their streets. Only Iraqis can build a democracy within their borders. What America can do, and will do, is provide support for the Iraqi people as both a friend and a partner."
5:07 PM "Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page. As we do, I am mindful that the Iraq War has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it is time to turn the page."
>>Does this mean that the president will finally stop blaming Bush at every corner?
5:09 PM "We must never lose sight of what’s at stake. As we speak, al Qaeda continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We will disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists."
>>Ramping up commitment to Afghanistan. That can't be popular with the base. But the president can't abandon the good war.
5:11 PM "Over the last decade, we have not done what is necessary to shore up the foundation of our own prosperity."
>>Oops, spoke too soon. Blame-Bush syndrome is here to stay.
5:15 PM "To strengthen our middle class, we must give all our children the education they deserve, and all our workers the skills that they need to compete in a global economy. We must jumpstart industries that create jobs, and end our dependence on foreign oil. We must unleash the innovation that allows new products to roll off our assembly lines, and nurture the ideas that spring from our entrepreneurs."
>>Long list of objectives. Predictably no mention of the essential ingredients to growing the middle class: lowering income tax rates & corporate tax rates.
5:18 PM "Every American who serves joins an unbroken line of heroes that stretches from Lexington to Gettysburg; from Iwo Jima to Inchon; from Khe Sanh to Kandahar – Americans who have fought to see that the lives of our children are better than our own. Our troops are the steel in our ship of state. And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead."
Summary: This is only the second address President Obama has delivered from the Oval Office, thereby signaling the importance of the message: We're leaving Iraq. President Obama seemed to be cognizant of the widespread Iraq-fatigue felt by most Americans, and thus kept the speech was brief and to the point, which is notably very unusual for him.
The Conversation Around the Web:
NRO > Sen. Inhofe calls Obama's Iraq address "awkward"
Contentions > Jennifer Rubin: Obama From the Oval Office
Daily Beast > Tunku Varadarajan: A Fair and Balanced Address
NY Times > Ross Douthat: Iraq in the Long Run
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
Credit Obama for giving credit of sorts to Bush
Jul '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
You have to hand it to him. He can sound sincere for ten whole minutes while saying almost nothing he actually believes and while paying tribute to values wholly foreign to his own.
May '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
Kept his snobbish chin down for about half of the speech, but toward the end, the lecture starts and the arrogant chin rises and he looks down his nose at the rest of us. Noticed they raised the camera angle a little so he didn't come off quite so superior (at first). Would it have been too much to ask to admit that Bush was right and he was wrong? The opening was there but he just couldn't do it. His narcissism reigns.
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
I'd be more inclined to characterize the problem as an inability to sound sincere enough paying tribute to values that really are his own, but whatevs, as the kiddies say. The most interesting thing to me was how close the speech came to the magic words -- Mission Accomplished -- despite the firm White House insistence that those words would most certainly not be coming out of its mouth. "The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given." Mission Completed!
It seems a necessary claim -- given the way the speech pivoted off that (I'll say it) accomplishment to declare that "They have met every test that they faced. Now, it is our [...] responsibility to honor them by coming together, all of us, and working to secure the dream that so many generations have fought for –the dream that a better life awaits anyone who is willing to work for it and reach for it."
May '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
I think this is from the few minutes I watched. I like how he rolled off half a dozen or more goals and ended with, "This must be our only mission" or something like that. Which one?
Obama's words are smoke. Searching for clues in his speeches is a futile exercise.
Aug '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
My spontaneous reaction during the speech (#1 above) is not changed by further reflection or by the commentary I have heard (Krauthammer et al) or read so far. Considering where Obama has come from and who comprises his base I think an acknowledgement that Bush acted in good faith was commendable and probably as much as could be expected.On a less serious note I did think the family photos were a bit "in your face"-Winston would have been a better backdrop.
May '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
Sorry, I was watching "Family Guy" on Netflix.
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
A wise choice. But let me summarize the speech. Obama said nice things about the troops, and then proceeded to tell them that their sacrifice was all in the name of a war that had made us economically and diplomatically weaker. He conceded that Bush was a patriot but studiously avoided giving him a shred of credit for the surge. He spoke of withdrawal, and doing one's "duty," but no mention of victory. And he made a bizarre little detour into domestic affairs to suggest that -- now that the war is over -- he can finally turn his full attention to supporting the solar power industry.
Is it just me, or was this not a pathetic performance?
Edited on Aug 31, 2010 at 7:36pmJul '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
Adam Freedman
Is it just me, or was this not a pathetic performance? · Aug 31 at 7:35pm
Edited on Aug 31 at 07:36 pm
Victory? What is this victory of which you speak?
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
It's not just you, Adam. It was a pathetic performance. And it so infuriated yours truly that I just put up a post about (I see now) half as long as the speech itself.
Edited on Aug 31, 2010 at 7:50pmRe: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
Aaron Miller
I think this is from the few minutes I watched. I like how he rolled off half a dozen or more goals and ended with, "This must be our only mission" or something like that. Which one?
Obama's words are smoke. Searching for clues in his speeches is a futile exercise. · Aug 31 at 6:07pm
Even CBS has compiled a baldly mocking list of his endless so-called "top priorities." One reaction I received over email from someone listening to the address on radio put it bluntly: "he sounds like he's phoning it in." When questioned, dismissive; when cornered, abrasive. When addressing his nation, from behind his own desk? Limp.
May '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
Think back to what he promised in the campaign - heal the planet, stop the ocean's rise, heal the sick, make everybody love one another - then think what he actually gets to do. He's gobsmacked. Everybody and everything was supposed to just make way for him and didn't. How dare they! Now's he's bored with it.
Aug '10
Re: Live-Blogging Obama's Iraq Oval Office Address
I'm writing from a base in Iraq where we have officially transitioned from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn, the former under the control of the Department of Defense and the latter under the control of the Department of State.
It truly does feel like a new dawn here. The cargoes of ammunition and fuel brought in on the supply convoys have been replaced with cargoes of attache cases and commemorative china tea services bearing the State Department seal superimposed over the Iraqi flag.
I would hold off on declaring "mission completed" Mr. Poulos, until we see the result of DoS' involvement here, though I'm sure many of the fine men and women of the foreign service are qualified to take charge de affairs here (in fact, I believe upwards of 30% of the DoS personnel in Iraq presented their MA theses on "Development of Post-Colonial Indigenous Populations and the Effects of Latent Imperial Abasement as Expressed in Cultural Memes"). There is still ample opportunity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.