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| President Obama |
President Obama formally announced the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq yesterday. The president has also made it clear he believes escalating the U.S. troop commitment in Afghanistan is the right thing to do. The president seems conflicted. He has rehired most of George W. Bush's generals. And after firing one insolent Bush general (Stanley McChrystal) he replaced him with another man who had been previously crucified by members of his own party (General Petraeous) in congressional hearings and in progressive media publications. Today President Obama continues to pursue national security issues in the Middle East in a muddled, confusing, and often times contradictory fashion. He snubs Israel then re-engages with the nation. Yesterday he visited Fort Bliss briefly to talk to troops about their completed and uncompleted missions. Then without a word about the war raging just a few kilometers away in Mexico he headed back to Washington to address the nation where he grudgingly acknowledged the effectiveness in the surge of troops in Iraq that he so adamantly opposed, while almost simultaneously trying to garner support for the big surge of troops (in Afghanistan) that he so adamantly supports.
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| General David Petraeous |
Cynics might point to the most remarkable statement the president made last night and say it reflects a political sensitivity to polls that suggest that the act of dumping all blame for everything that goes wrong these days on George W. Bush is no longer a strategy that works.
"It's well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset," Obama said. "Yet no one could doubt President Bush's support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security," the president said.
For more on this story go to the El Paso Times and read more here:
For more on this story go to the El Paso Times and read more here:
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