President Obama addressed troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on Wednesday regarding his strategy to "degrade and destroy ISIL," but also reminded the audience about his plans for the U.S. military in Afghanistan [emphasis added]:
"In three months, our combat mission will be over in Afghanistan & our war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end." —President Obama — The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 17, 2014
Listeners could be forgiven is these words sound familiar. Less than three years ago, President Obama had this to say about Iraq:
As a candidate for President, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end -- for the sake of our national security and to strengthen American leadership around the world... So today, I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over. As Commander-in-Chief, ensuring the success of this strategy has been one of my highest national security priorities... Iraqis have taken full responsibility for their country’s security.
In spite of the president's words in October 2011 that "ensuring the success of [the Iraq troop withdrawal] strategy has been one of my highest national security priorities," he went on to explain in his Wednesday speech at MacDill Air Force Base the new strategy for reversing ISIL's gains in Iraq and the region in the wake of the US pull-out. The White House's recent acknowledgement that the U.S. is indeed "at war" with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria seems a tacit admission that not only was the Iraq war not ended responsibly, it didn't end at all. In this light, President Obama's new assurances that he is bringing "our war in Afghanistan ... to a responsible end" by year's end may ring hollow.