Tell that to the troops we still have left in Iraq. Relabeling them doesn't mean they're in any less danger.
Anyone watch the president's speech? Where's the forceful orator we saw on the campaign trail? I couldn't help but notice how unnatural he seemed, reading from a teleprompter in front of him, and he stumbled on his words a few times in the course of the 19 minutes... There was no enthusiasm or emotion behind anything he was saying, it was quite robotic, IMO. And what about him acknowledging W for the first time in a positive light?
I think earlier in his run for and then taking the Oval Office, he had more time to write and perfect speeches. Now, due to time he turns it over to speech writers and simply reads it. That's not unusual.
Probably the less that W is mentioned, the better. People complain that he's blamed too much and then complain when he's not given credit. So, W should be given credit for getting us into a war we had absolutely no business getting into in the first place? It opens a can of worms that's not worth the effort for both sides. Because mentioning him will only bring out that point (we had no reason to go there) and then conservatives will complain that the liberals just blame everything on W. And that detracts from the message, and feeds the need that certain groups (I like to call them "Fox News") who like to stir shit up.
I guess you didn't see the speech. He DID say nice things about W for the first time: "OBAMA: This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It's well-known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet, no one can doubt President Bush's support for our troops or his love of country and commitment to our security." I don't doubt our current President's support for the troops, love of his country, or commitment to our security either.
So it's "turn the page, turn to the economy" time and the first thing on the front page the next day is peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Sounds like all kinds of new jobs right around the corner.
On the bright side, our tactics, weapons, and gear have improved exponentially because of the war in Iraq. We've improved body armor, unmanned vehicles, battlefield medicine, among other things. If we end up having to fight in a conventional war in the next decade, the lessons we learned in Iraq will help greatly.
