"As your Commander in Chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to finally say these two words, and I know your families agree. Welcome home," the president said at Ft. Bragg, where he was joined by first lady Michelle Obama.
It wasn't a "Mission Accomplished" speech; the president acknowledged that there is more to be done in Iraq. But he was clear that the road ahead for Iraq would be governed by the Iraqis themselves.
"Iraq's not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people," he said.
The president's speech somberly recounted the challenges that the armed forces faced in Iraq, speaking of the battles in Karbala and Baghdad, "The grind of the insurgency," the surge and the process of handing over operations centers to the Iraqis. He also honored those who were killed and wounded while serving in Iraq," Over 30,000 Americans have been wounded. And those are only the wounds that show. Nearly 4,500 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice, including 202 fallen heroes from here at Fort Bragg."
And the president spoke of the sacrifices of families. "Let us give a heartfelt round of applause for every military family that has carried that load over the last nine years. You too have the thanks of a grateful nation," he said.
Steps the White House has taken to help veterans as they transition to civilian life were outlined as well as a bipartisan bill that was passed in Congress last month that gives companies tax credits for hiring veterans and wounded warriors.
The president campaigned on the policy of ending the war with Iraq and shifting our focus to the forgotten front of Afghanistan. In his 2009 inaugural address he stated, “We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people.” He has not wavered from that goal since.
On August 31, 2010, he announced the end of combat operations and laid out a timeline for transfer of security to the Iraqi government. Though some believed this to be a political move it stood in stark contrast to President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” announcement on May 1, 2003, when he declared an end to major combat operations. It is difficult to argue that a conflict that still involved more than 150,000 American soldiers was anything but a major combat operation. But by the end of 2010, with a stable, though nascent government in place, Iraq was finally ready to begin the transition.
There were, of course, political and security concerns that led to a final decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq by December 31. The most important was Iraq’s refusal to uphold a provision that gave immunity to American soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts. Obama drew a line in the sand and said this was unacceptable. He was absolutely right. Under no circumstance should the U.S. approve Status of Forces Agreements that abandon the men and women who are fighting to protect the host nation. We have our own Uniform Code of Military Justice that has and will adequately punish and prosecute service members who break local and international laws. If the Iraqi government is willing to stick to this position (which they have every right to do) they have rightly achieved the will to take responsibility for their own future.
People are astounded that Obama has been as strong and tough on the security and foreign policy questions because that was the big question mark" about him, said Republican international lawyer Rita E. Hauser, who was on Bush's Intelligence Advisory Board in 2001 but supported Obama in 2008 based on his stance on the Iraq war.
ASSESSING OBAMA'S RECORD
The Afghanistan war and tension with Iran still could be drags on Obama's foreign policy record before next November's election, but his campaign and its veteran support indicate they will focus on his successes in weakening al-Qaeda.
"His military leadership is probably a net positive for him where the economy is probably a net negative," said Peter Feaver, a professor of political science at Duke who served in the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
The Republican White House hopefuls still will have plenty of avenues through which to attack Obama, Feaver said.
Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the frontunners in the Republican nominating race, repeatedly have blasted Obama's leadership on foreign affairs.
"His naive approach to Iran has allowed the ayatollahs to come to the brink of a nuclear weapon," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.
Feaver summed up possible Republican attacks.
"Obama has mishandled the Israel file. He's been slow on the Iran file. He's invested heavily in the Russian reset and that doesn't look to be going really well now. He has authorized a (troop) surge in Afghanistan but undercut it with a time frame (for withdrawal) that encouraged the enemy to wait us out," Feaver said.
There is still violence in Iraq, despite the formal end of the war, said Thomas A. Schwartz, a history and political science professor at Vanderbilt University.
"Obama is taking pride in withdrawing the troops. If something were to go wrong there it might dramatically hurt him," Schwartz said.
Sims said he was aware the main reason the war was finally declared over was not because of Obama alone, but because of the failure of the U.S. and Iraqi governments to reach an agreement over giving American soldiers legal immunity to stay.
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