Different President, Same Mistake

Barack Obama seems to have taken a page from George Bush's book, by crafting his own version of the "Mission accomplished!" war cry.  Not wanting to appear defeated in a war that, quite frankly, has been thrust upon him, he has come up with "Mission changed", claiming that Iraq is, essentially, pacified and ready to be turned over to the Iraquis.  But, the truth is that the country is anything but peaceful, as anyone who can read or watch TV knows, and it's extremely doubtful that the Iraquis will do any better.

On the other hand, leaving 50,000 soldiers in Iraq is hardly a pullout worth its name.  What will happen when they keep dying on a regular basis?  Just saying that they won't be there for combat duty isn't going to change anything.  They will still be targets for the forces that they have been fighting until now.  The only real solution is to accept defeat and leave altogether.

But, that would take the audacity of moral courage.

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