Published for Shadow Government on foreignpolicy.com, August 31st, 2010:

How did Obama do in his Iraq speech on those Four Essential Items I was tracking? Better than I feared, but not as well as I hoped.

Gimmickry vs. Candor? He did not say “mission accomplished” but he did say mission completed and responsibility met (specifically: “The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given.” and “we have met our responsibility”). The emphasis is all on what has been done and not on what still needs to be done.  If what remains to be done is light and easy, the speech is strong enough to sustain it. But the speech did not prepare Americans for any hard and dangerous  tasks to come in Iraq.

The gestures towards reality — “Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission” — felt like nothing more than gestures. And the breezy confidence — “But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals. Iraqis are a proud people. They have rejected sectarian war, and they have no interest in endless destruction. They understand that, in the end, only Iraqis can resolve their differences and police their streets.”  – seemed disconnected from the real challenges still confronting the Iraqi people, and therefore the United States.

Defining the mission going forward? The way forward seemed dotted with hopes and aspirations — a vague commitment to “support Iraq as it strengthens its government, resolves political disputes, resettles those displaced by war, and builds ties with the region and the world” — rather than with hard-headed strategies for achieving realistic goals. He also doubled down on the promise that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year, leaving no flexibility for responding to the expected Iraqi request for a post-2011 American presence.

Full post here