President Obama formally declared an end to the 7-year Iraq war last night.
This came as quite a surprise to the 50,000 soldiers who are still there but, so far, it sure beats the end of the Vietnam war where we had to get the hell out of Saigon as the city fell beneath us. To be fair, the Vietnam War had been going on for 116 years (the French began an unwelcome occupation in the 1800s) – we just came in for the last quarter…
“Just” 35 years after the official end of that war, Vietnam, which is the 18th most populous nation on Earth at 90M people, is reunified and a vital part of Asia and a strong emerging market. Perhaps it is hard to imagine that ever happening to Iraq but I remember the utter chaos that marked the end of Vietnam and it seems to me that Iraq is actually in better shape. The war was, of course, a total disaster for us, costing well over a Trillion Dollars and thousands of American lives.
The U.S. “sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home,” Obama said. “We have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page. Today, our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work. This will be difficult. But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as President.”
Michael Steel, speaking for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R, Ohio), said the President’s pivot to domestic policy showed no clear plan to revive the economy beyond a call to “unleash innovation” and “strengthen our middle class.” But Mr. Obama said the end of combat operations was a time to thank U.S. service members, not relive political disagreements, and to acknowledge the sacrifices made in a war that cost more than 4,427 American lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives. Another 34,265 U.S. troops were wounded. Obama also commented: “No one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.”
The global markets got a nice pop overnight on the news but we’ll have to wait and see if it sticks. All those soldiers coming home (the ones that don’t go to Afghanastan) still need jobs and we have the ADP report this…
