Our Long National Nightmare Draws to a Close

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Obama Declares an End to Iraq Combat Mission,” discusses a welcome conclusion to our combat mission in Iraq, marked by a Presidential address from the Oval Office. President Obama officially marked a milestone last night, the end of the military venture called Operation Iraqi Freedom that needlessly cost thousands of young American lives.

The President also emphasized again his vow to draw down from Afghanistan as well next summer, saying an endless war there helped neither Afghanistan nor the United States, and that the Afghans must learn to fend for themselves.

The President provided a forceful argument about the need to stop spending trillions overseas when our own domestic economy remains in tatters, with so many suffering through long-term unemployment. His sanity provides a welcome refreshment to the recalcitrance of the Bush administration to ending our overseas adventurism.

Yet the President showed a touch of class about the previous administration as well. He praised the patriotism of George W. Bush and even called him from Air Force One to mark the milestone. Of course, the Iraq War, and Barack Obama’s criticism of it, provided the initial boost to his Presidential campaign.

A breath of fresh air and sanity from the White House, thank God.