San Francisco (Obama.net)- In what was only his second address from the Oval Office so far in his service as President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama made his highly anticipated speech regarding the end of combat in Iraq.
Obama made it clear that the future of Iraq is now “in the hands of its people.” The United States government and military have done as much as they can in terms of setting up the nation of Iraq to take command of its own operations. Obama said, “we have met our responsibility, now it is time to turn the page.”
Combat ended in Iraq Tuesday afternoon officially. With 50,000 troops left in Iraq as of now, the number is set to reach zero at the conclusion of 2011, over eight years after the war began under President George W. Bush.
Obama expressed his pride in the willingness of the troops to risk their lives in Iraq over the past seven years and how the people of the United States supported the war in times of struggle at home economically.
Obama is confident that Iraq will now prosper, saying, “We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people. A belief that out of the ashes of war a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.”
Obama then moved his speech to an issue closer to home for most Americans, the economy.
Obama made it clear that his top priority right now is to rebuild the economy and help “the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work.”
Obama touted the importance of job creation and clean, new energy industries. Obama further reiterated the need to end the need of foreign fuels and imports, and the need to increase American exports.
Obama said of his economic goals, “this will be difficult. But in the days to come it must be our central mission as a people and my central responsibility as President.”
According to reports, the majority of the American public are basing their votes in the Midterm Elections on economic platforms.
Obama then urged the need to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan and to help restore the Afghanistan government just like the United States did in Iraq.
Due to Obama’s increase in troops in Afghanistan, hundreds of al Qaeda members have been caught and killed throughout the entire world.
Obama’s hope is that in July of 2011, Afghanistan will be where Iraq is now and the near decade long war will be nearing its end as combat is set to end at the end of that month.
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