President Barack Obama will address the American people on Tuesday about the new advisory and training role for the U.S. military in Iraq. Mr. Obama's speech from the Oval Office comes after a visit with U.S. troops at Ft. Bliss, Texas and private visits at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington with soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The president is expected to explain to Americans what the U.S. has accomplished in Iraq since 2003, underscore a continuing commitment to Iraq's stability, and pay tribute to the sacrifices by American military personnel.
| And to take credit for something that he tried to shut down when he was Senator. Let's all remember that if Obama, Reid and Pelosi had had their way in early 2007, Iraq would be nothing but blood and carnage today. Let's see if Bambi will dare to thank George Bush as well as the troops. |
On Monday, Mr. Obama visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Out of view of television cameras, he sat down with some of the wounded from the conflict in Iraq and the ongoing combat operations in Afghanistan.
| Good that he met them. Good that he kept the cameras away. Let's hope he was humbled by being in the presence of real heroes. |
On Tuesday, the president is expected to visit the huge U.S. Army base at Ft. Bliss, Texas. It will be another chance for him to thank soldiers who served in the long Iraq conflict, before heading back to Washington.
| If he wanted to be classy, he'd invite George Bush to share the stage with him. |
President Obama has stressed that regardless of whether one opposed or supported former President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, Americans must honor the sacrifices of the U.S. military in helping to bring the United States to the point of formally ending combat operations. |