Why Can't We Exit Iraq With Honor?

President Obama’s remarks today about the withdrawal of our combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2010, were disgraceful. Those who have read my postings obviously assume that I am not a fan of President Obama. Therefore, if you are, you may want to stop reading at this point.
It is clear that his role as Commander-in-Chief is at odds with his training and exposure to his anti-war friends in Chicago. I don’t want to get into the Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers background again, but sometimes it’s hard to ignore this part of his past. Just as his tenure as a community organizer affects his views on the redistribution of wealth in this society.

• In the President’s remarks to our soldiers he never once mentioned the words victory, success, or democracy. He treated our soldiers as victims not victors, because of the difficult demands of this war on their personal lives. If you said that to our soldiers during WWII, the Greatest Generation, they would think you were crazy! Our soldiers were protecting our citizens from terrorism here in the U.S. and they liberated Iraq in the process. So what if it was a personal inconvenience. Are you really my Commander-in-Chief?

• Mr. Obama never gave any acknowledgement to General Petreus or President Bush for the success of the surge. This shows no class, particularly after President Bush treated Obama and his staff so graciously during the transition.

• Mr. Obama never used the word “democracy”, after we have established the only democratic country in the Mid-East with the blood of over 4,000 American youth. Iraq now has political parties, elections, and democratic debates among their legislators without a gun pointed at their heads. Do you see this in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or Syria?

• President Obama just focused on the fact that we were withdrawing 100,000 combat troops and leaving 35-50,000 to support the Iraqi army going forward. This war ended because we were successful in removing a dictator and murderer, who supported terrorism all over the Mid-East and virtually ruined the Iraqi economy. It ended because the war is over and we defeated Al-Qaeda and Mr. Obama contributed nothing to it other than making the announcement.

I was embarrassed by his insensitivity to our military and the people in our government who worked hard to resolve a very difficult situation. He will probably proceed to take credit for ending the war in the next presidential election.