Obama's Iraq Speech Will Sound Familiar: He's Said It All Before

By: Mark Knoller
Topics: Foreign Policy

(Credit: AP)

This is the day President Obama has been talking about since he was Candidate Obama.

"As president, I will end this war," he said in speech after speech during his presidential campaign.

He would repeatedly say that within 16 months of taking office, he would have U.S. combat troops out of Iraq. As president, he elongated that timeline to 18 months in a speech last year at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina:

"Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," he said.

So his Address to the Nation this evening will sound familiar. Only the tense of his verbs will change from future to present.

As a candidate, he said he would pursue a transition to "full Iraqi responsibility" for security in that country. Today, that transition is taking place.

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"This is the future that Iraqis want," Candidate Obama said in a campaign speech on July 15, 2008. "This is the future that the American people want. And this is what our common interests demand."

But seven months later as president, he conceded his plan does not mean an end to violence and bloodshed in Iraq.

"We cannot rid Iraq of all who oppose America or sympathize with our adversaries," he said in that Camp LeJeune speech on February 27, 2009. "We cannot police Iraq's streets until they are completely safe, nor stay until Iraq's union is perfected."

That remains the case in Iraq, which has suffered an increased number of bombings and other attacks in recent days that have claimed scores of lives.

But from the beginning, Mr. Obama insisted that by this day, Iraq would have responsibility for its own defense and security. And he portrayed that as achieving the ultimate objective.

"That's victory. That's success," said Candidate Obama two years ago, using words not often uttered in the same sentence as Iraq.

He said of the end of the U.S. combat role: "That's what's best for Iraq. That's what's best for America."

President Barack Obama greets military personnel at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

(Credit: AP)

He said as a candidate and will say again tonight that the withdrawal of 90,000 U.S. troops from Iraq since he took office will ease the strain on the American military and also allow for a greater emphasis on the conflict in Afghanistan - which he has repeatedly called the real central front in the war on terrorism.

But that shift in emphasis also raises another promise he made as a candidate.

"I will finally finish the fight against Bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11." he said in that campaign speech in July of '08.

He has increased U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 100,000 and has put Afghan leaders on notice that he intends to start a drawdown of troops there in July of next year.

But that's a pledge that has some analysts warn could lead to defeat, not victory.

Fifty-thousand American troops remain in place in Iraq, but they're mission is training and advising Iraqi security forces and supporting them in counter-terrorism operations. And under the Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq negotiated during the final months of the George W. Bush presidency, all Americans troops must be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of next year.

President Obama's speech will be at 8 p.m. ET and will be available on your CBS television station, CBS Radio News or here at CBSNews.com.

Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.

Mark Knoller
Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent.
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by EnglishPatientnNY November 9, 2010 8:11 AM EST: This is simple. Bush needed to be seen to react to 9/11. It was a catastrophe but since then he started two wars that look to the world like a war against Islam. Given the blinkered support for Israel, which again the world does not agree with, you have now galvanized th entire Muslim world against you. There were never any WMDs and, no matter how much Bush denies it, he knows there were none. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. But it was an easier target than Iran, and Bush had egg on his face for telling Bin Laden he was going to invade Afghanistan and come get him. I am all for world peace but it is not going to be achieved when you are alienating a third of the world's people, starting wars based on lies and being reactionary rather than proactive. You will be invading Yemen next, or bowing to Israel and attack Iran. How many countries to you need to have combat troops in for it to be classed as a world war? It must be getting close, and then we can all say Bush Started WW3. Get out of Iraq, get out of Afghanistan, give the Palestinian people their country back, reign in Israel and the world will be a better place.; Reply to this comment


by snydersweb August 31, 2010 10:30 PM EDT: President Obama is still acting like he has done something special. Lets face it, we all want our troops home but you can bet Iraq will become the hotbed of terrorist training once we're gone. For a real plan to win read The GH-4 Effect. www.thegh-4effect.com; Reply to this comment


by 1renegade August 31, 2010 9:14 PM EDT: Yawn... nothing new here Obama taking credit for something he had nothing to do with.; Reply to this comment


by anothersimpleton August 31, 2010 8:19 PM EDT: So should we be concerned about the returning soldiers facing no jobs when they return?

"We spent a trillion dollars on this war" says BO. Ok, we will give you that, but how much do you keep giving out with no accountability?

Since you are comfortable handing out money, give it to our soldiers when they return. They will handle it more responsibly than banks, automobile makers, politicians, etc.

Support those who keep us safe not the jokers who are morally bankrupt!; Reply to this comment


by ken1dall August 31, 2010 7:18 PM EDT: The Six Phases of a Project

1. Enthusiasm
2. Disillusionment
3. Panic
4. Search for the guilty
5. Punishment of the innocent
6. Praise and honor to the non-participants; Reply to this comment

by golfguy65 August 31, 2010 4:29 PM EDT

How about this, no one watch this fool tonight. How about a nice rerun on the cooking channel?

Reply to this comment


by Cattzen August 31, 2010 5:31 PM EDT: It was shameful that the Republicans created this war to satisfy their own greed and antagonism that essentially kept George W. Bush in office (along with voter fraud) in the 2004 Presidential Election. I?m glad It?s over (or finally ending) and, I?m also glad the GOP is out of power and should remain in the minority to not allow them to conduct more damage as they have done with the entire Iraq War.


by stormerF3 August 31, 2010 3:16 PM EDT: I wonder if he will mention how he is funding the war,and not showing it in the deficit like Bush did? After he whinned about Bush not showing it,he turns around and is doing the same thing. The HYPOCRITE he is.; Reply to this comment


by Simifanene August 31, 2010 3:08 PM EDT: Donations for D.C. Commander in Chief Victory Statue being accepted. Bush has not only failed himself, he has endangered all of us. On 911 the terrorist we're nothing more than a outlaw gang. They weren't affiliated with any country. They had apartments and a few tents in several countries. Howdy Doody, with the Alfred E. Newman smile, plays right into Ladin's game. It was like a child playing Kasprov in chess. When the Twin-Towers went down on Bush's watch, he led us with the words and actions as a jackass. The Democratic mule could have done better. First he give's warning to Alkaida he knows they did, he knows where they are and he's going to attack them in 24 hours. What Commander in Chief tells his enemy is plans ahead of time? Then he schock and awes a whole country. Thousands upon thousands of innocents dead, and all terrorist on the run to safety. Why did he let the enemy get away? Why did he give notice? Why did he B29 bomb a whole country? Why didn't he say nothing to the terrorist and bomb them in their sleep, as our parachute special forces surrounded their small isolated camp? No destroy and rebuild? No innocents killed? No loss of respect from the rest of the world? I could go on for three more hours of mistake after mistake. Here's one. The day after 911 he speaks to the world and notifys the terrorist we know who they are and where they are, understood. Then to make it worse he goes off on a tangent saying this is a war of good and evil. That's exactly what Ladin wanted him to say. Bush and Cheney's leadership has only stirred many sleeping hornets nest into a swarm of stinging bee's. Ladin might send Bush a birthday present. I could go on talking about torture, (I'm sorry, enhanced interrogation, right Cheney?), Iraq and the Corporporate Oil Barons pulling the puppets strings, but I'll just end my opinion with a call for contributions. Yes, I'm calling for contributions to build a 3' tall plastic statue of George Bush characterized as Howdy Doody, dancing to the Corporate Oil Baron Puppetiers tunes, as Bush reaches out one hand, saying the war is over in only one week. If we collect enough contributions we will also build a statue formed out of cow dung of Dick Cheney torturing an Afghan teen. Cheney's statue's plaque will read, "Toruture Saves Lives". I would express myself even more but there's still years and years of Bush's DigiNet Vietnams left to explain deeper.; Reply to this comment


by Simifanene August 31, 2010 3:04 PM EDT: Donations for D.C. Commander in Chief Victory Statue being accepted. Bush has not only failed himself, he has endangered all of us. On 911 the terrorist we're nothing more than a outlaw gang. They weren't affiliated with any country. They had apartments and a few tents in several countries. Howdy Doody, with the Alfred E. Newman smile, plays right into Ladin's game. It was like a child playing Kasprov in chess. When the Twin-Towers went down on Bush's watch, he led us with the words and actions as a jackass. The Democratic mule could have done better. First he give's warning to Alkaida he knows they did, he knows where they are and he's going to attack them in 24 hours. What Commander in Chief tells his enemy is plans ahead of time? Then he schock and awes a whole country. Thousands upon thousands of innocents dead, and all terrorist on the run to safety. Why did he let the enemy get away? Why did he give notice? Why did he B29 bomb a whole country? Why didn't he say nothing to the terrorist and bomb them in their sleep, as our parachute special forces surrounded their small isolated camp? No destroy and rebuild? No innocents killed? No loss of respect from the rest of the world? I could go on for three more hours of mistake after mistake. Here's one. The day after 911 he speaks to the world and notifys the terrorist we know who they are and where they are, understood. Then to make it worse he goes off on a tangent saying this is a war of good and evil. That's exactly what Ladin wanted him to say. Bush and Cheney's leadership has only stirred many sleeping hornets nest into a swarm of stinging bee's. Ladin might send Bush a birthday present. I could go on talking about torture, (I'm sorry, enhanced interrogation, right Cheney?), Iraq and the Corporporate Oil Barons pulling the puppets strings, but I'll just end my opinion with a call for contributions. Yes, I'm calling for contributions to build a 3' tall plastic statue of George Bush characterized as Howdy Doody, dancing to the Corporate Oil Baron Puppetiers tunes, as Bush reaches out one hand, saying the war is over in only one week. If we collect enough contributions we will also build a statue formed out of cow dung of Dick Cheney torturing an Afghan teen. Cheney's statue's plaque will read, "Toruture Saves Lives". I would express myself even more but there's still years and years of Bush's DigiNet Vietnams left to explain deeper.; Reply to this comment

by mary-miami August 31, 2010 1:33 PM EDT

Bush lied when he said "Mission Accomplished". President Obama kept his word about getting troops out of Iraq. "Promise Fulfilled".

Reply to this comment


by jgg000101 August 31, 2010 1:48 PM EDT: actually, bush never said "mission accomplished". It was a banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln. And as far as "promise fulfilled", obama hasn't "fulfilled" anything. There are still troops in iraq, despite whatever obama wants to rename them, and the fighting continues. And obama has sent 100,000 additional troops to afghanistan.