There is no other reasonable interpretation.
Here is how Obama described the end of combat operations in Iraq in his speech Tuesday night:
Tonight, I’d like to talk to you about the end of our combat mission in Iraq, the ongoing security challenges we face, and the need to rebuild our nation here at home….
So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.
This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office….
Here is a memo AP passed along to its staff in response to Obama’s address and statements by administration officials echoing Obama:
To begin with, combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is, even if they come from senior officials. The situation on the ground in Iraq is no different today than it has been for some months. Iraqi security forces are still fighting Sunni and al-Qaida insurgents. Many Iraqis remain very concerned for their country’s future despite a dramatic improvement in security, the economy and living conditions in many areas.
As for U.S. involvement, it also goes too far to say that the U.S. part in the conflict in Iraq is over. President Obama said Monday night that “the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.”
However, 50,000 American troops remain in country. Our own reporting on the ground confirms that some of these troops, especially some 4,500 special operations forces, continue to be directly engaged in military operations. These troops are accompanying Iraqi soldiers into battle with militant groups and may well fire and be fired on.
I guess it depends on what the meaning of “combat” is. Or “mission.”
If Obama had qualified his description, for example referring to the end of “major combat operations” and specifically mentioning the continuing need to “secure” the country, there is no doubt the press would have left him alone and praised his accuracy.
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Related Posts:
Harry Reid’s Iraq Failure
Frank Rich: You People Will Cause The Already Failed Afghan Surge To Fail
They Lied Us Into The War On Happy Birthday
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Comments
You assume this sophomoric yutz knows the difference .
So can every combat related death in Iraq now be added to the "Obama Lied, People Died" column?
When will the cars of the opportunistic anti-war left start sprouting that sticker?
Sounds like the AP is either sobering up or growing up. About time.
This sounds like a professor of mine that mentioned the two wars we are in the other day as we discussed the Articles of the Constitution. She made sure to point out that only Congress can declare war, and I happily pointed out to her that I never noticed a war in Iraq during 2005-2006. There were just these "insurgents" and "enemy combatants" that kept shooting at us, mortaring and setting off IEDs among other non-warlike things…lol
Obama employs a Clinton, so I'm sure this depends on what the definition of "is" is.
Seriously though, this is a shock coming from the AP. I was flying the day after the Christmas Day bomber tried to take down a plane, that morning I was reading a lengthy article on it in a Dallas newspaper. I expressed surprised that, even in Texas, the article failed to mention the words 'terror', 'terrorist', 'muslim', 'islam' or any hint of the motivation of the man behind the attack. My father looked over my shoulder and pointed out the AP byline.