Stan Geiger

Obama's Speech a Yawner

I watched the great one's Oval Office speech. Though I had to slap myself a couple of times to stay awake, I made it through the entire platitude fest.

The main purpose of the speech was to declare an end to combat operations in Iraq. Mission accomplished, the president proclaimed, in so many words. He says it's time to "turn the page."

I hate to burst Obama's bubble, but he doesn't have the power to call an end to combat in Iraq. Only the Iraqis can call an end to combat in Iraq.

We can leave, of course, and we have to some extent. But we still have 50,000 troops in country---and every one of them is a potential target. If they are fired on, they will fire back. That's combat.

The commander-in-chief referring to the remaining 50,000 as "noncombat" troops is an insult to the force and an insult to my intelligence as a citizen.

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