Obama to say he kept promise on war in Iraq
Source: Agencies |
September 1, 2010, Wednesday
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US President Barack Obama will avoid a "Mission Accomplished" moment this morning when marking progress in ending the Iraq war, using an Oval Office address to note the milestone and address the bigger issue for voters - America's struggling economy.
The White House says the removal of all but 50,000 US troops and the declaration of the end to the combat phase shows Obama is fulfilling a campaign promise he made in 2008 to pull out of Iraq.
But high unemployment and slowing economic growth have eclipsed the war as the top issue in voters' minds, much as it did in 2008, when Obama prevailed over Republican John McCain in the presidential election.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama will discuss steps to boost US economic recovery while highlighting the transition going on in Iraq. "The nation he truly wants to rebuild is the nation that he lives in, the United States of America," Gibbs said on ABC television.
The address, scheduled for 8pm Tuesday on the US East Coast, will be Obama's second from the Oval Office. The president used the same high-profile venue in June to discuss his administration's response to the Gulf Coast oil spill.
More than 7,000 troops from Iraq have returned in the last six months, the White House said.
In the address, Obama must avoid coming across as too triumphant. To do so could evoke comparisons to former President George W. Bush's May 2003 speech aboard an aircraft carrier. In front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner, Bush announced that major combat operations were over, a move that was seen as a huge misstep after violence soared later.
"You won't hear those words coming from us," Gibbs said. He stressed that violence was likely to continue as US forces drew down.
More than 4,400 US soldiers have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.
Obama, who opposed the Iraq war, rode a wave of antiwar sentiment within his Democratic Party during the 2008 campaign.
When he took office in January 2009, the US military presence in Iraq was 140,000 troops and it reached a high of around 170,000 under the surge ordered by Bush.
The roughly 50,000 US soldiers still in Iraq are moving into an advisory role in which they will train and support Iraq's army and police.
One of Obama's aims is to ease growing anxiety among liberals in his party about the war in Afghanistan, where he has increased US troop levels.
He has set July 2011 as the date for a beginning of a drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan and he hopes the example of Iraq will reassure his Democratic supporters that he can keep his word.
The White House says the removal of all but 50,000 US troops and the declaration of the end to the combat phase shows Obama is fulfilling a campaign promise he made in 2008 to pull out of Iraq.
But high unemployment and slowing economic growth have eclipsed the war as the top issue in voters' minds, much as it did in 2008, when Obama prevailed over Republican John McCain in the presidential election.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama will discuss steps to boost US economic recovery while highlighting the transition going on in Iraq. "The nation he truly wants to rebuild is the nation that he lives in, the United States of America," Gibbs said on ABC television.
The address, scheduled for 8pm Tuesday on the US East Coast, will be Obama's second from the Oval Office. The president used the same high-profile venue in June to discuss his administration's response to the Gulf Coast oil spill.
More than 7,000 troops from Iraq have returned in the last six months, the White House said.
In the address, Obama must avoid coming across as too triumphant. To do so could evoke comparisons to former President George W. Bush's May 2003 speech aboard an aircraft carrier. In front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner, Bush announced that major combat operations were over, a move that was seen as a huge misstep after violence soared later.
"You won't hear those words coming from us," Gibbs said. He stressed that violence was likely to continue as US forces drew down.
More than 4,400 US soldiers have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.
Obama, who opposed the Iraq war, rode a wave of antiwar sentiment within his Democratic Party during the 2008 campaign.
When he took office in January 2009, the US military presence in Iraq was 140,000 troops and it reached a high of around 170,000 under the surge ordered by Bush.
The roughly 50,000 US soldiers still in Iraq are moving into an advisory role in which they will train and support Iraq's army and police.
One of Obama's aims is to ease growing anxiety among liberals in his party about the war in Afghanistan, where he has increased US troop levels.
He has set July 2011 as the date for a beginning of a drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan and he hopes the example of Iraq will reassure his Democratic supporters that he can keep his word.
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