Iraq

Barack Obama, Iraq, Support our troops

Victory in Iraq; the greatest shame of last night’s SOTU

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President Barack Obama on Iraq, last night during his State of the Union Address:

“As we take the fight to al Qaeda, we are responsibly leaving Iraq to its people. As a candidate, I promised that I would end this war, and that is what I am doing as President. We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August. We will support the Iraqi government as they hold elections, and continue to partner with the Iraqi people to promote regional peace and prosperity. But make no mistake: this war is ending, and all of our troops are coming home.”

Was that a loss, win or tie? If someone won, which side, and who and what made victory possible?

America won, our coalition won, and the people of Iraq won. Together, we won by force of arms and staying the course, despite the mistakes made — as they are always made — in the fog of war, growing political opposition at home, and enemy opposition on the battlefield.

More specifically, our troops won with courage beyond description, sacrifice, blood, tears, and honor — always honor.

Yet they did not fight or pay the price alone. Their families, the troops of many nations, and thousands of federal and contracted personnel stood with them, fought along their sides, or supported them near and from afar. And the Iraqi people won because America stood with them through years of chaos, helped them to establish a government, worked with multiple factions despite civil war, and trained an army and police forces that could stand on their own, defend in place, and keep peace on Iraqi streets.

Obama has to date thanked exactly no one.

Last night, he thanked not one U.S. or coalition fallen hero, wounded troop, intelligence agent, government official, family member, ally, or Iraqi. Stunning is too small a word to describe that omission. “This war is ending.” No, Mr. Obama, we ended it with our victory; you are just now the guy in charge of a homecoming victory parade you will never conduct.

Obama did not lead the fight in Iraq, fight there or sacrifice himself, or acknowledge those who led, fought, and sacrificed. Our troops and that leadership were owed at least this President acknowledging another honorable chapter in American history written in blood.

Shame on you President Obama, shame on you.

Update: President Obama needs to be introduced to the American soldier by General Douglas MacArthur:

And what sort of soldiers are those you are to lead? Are they reliable? Are they brave? Are they capable of victory?

Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man at arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefields many, many years ago, and has never changed. I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the world’s noblest figures; not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless.

His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen. In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give. He needs no eulogy from me, or from any other man. He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy’s breast.

Barack Obama, Iran, Iraq, swift and certain justice alert

‘Swift and certain justice’ alert: Obama Frees Iranian Terror Masters; ‘diplomats’ murdered hundreds of American troops

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President Barack Obama just released five top Iranian war criminals who are responsible for the murder of hundreds of American troops. (Unsurprisingly, the Associated Press called the five ‘diplomats.’) To complete the deal with Iran, Obama will likely soon release hundreds of more war criminals even though they will surely go back to murdering our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan:

First, of the 4,322 Americans killed in combat in Iraq since 2003, 10 percent of them (i.e., more than 400) have been murdered by a single type of weapon alone, a weapon that is supplied by Iran for the singular purpose of murdering Americans. As Steve Schippert explains at NRO’s military blog, the Tank, the weapon is “the EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator), designed by Iran’s IRGC specifically to penetrate the armor of the M1 Abrams main battle tank and, consequently, everything else deployed in the field.” Understand: This does not mean Iran has killed only 400 Americans in Iraq. The number killed and wounded at the mullahs’ direction is far higher than that — likely multiples of that — when factoring in the IRGC’s other tactics, such as the mustering of Hezbollah-style Shiite terror cells.

Second, President Bush and our armed forces steadfastly refused demands by Iran and Iraq’s Maliki government for the release of the Irbil Five because Iran was continuing to coordinate terrorist operations against American forces in Iraq (and to aid Taliban operations against American forces in Afghanistan). Freeing the Quds operatives obviously would return the most effective, dedicated terrorist trainers to their grisly business.