(Thumbnail image: The White House)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: “Because of our troops and civilians -- and because of the resilience of the Iraqi people -- Iraq has the opportunity to embrace a new destiny, even though many challenges remain. So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.  Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.” (The White House)

In the second Oval Office address of his presidency, President Barack Obama announced the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq. The speech was largely symbolic, as the last combat brigade had already left the country in mid-August.

The Washington Post called it a “forgettable speech.”

While NPR said the speech was filled with “mixed messages.”

And POLITICO called it “subdued.”

And while some yawned, others overseas -- like ABC Australia and Canada’s CTV -- called it an appropriate symbol.

“For the country I don’t think the review at the moment will be positive, but for Barack Obama I think he’s delivered on his big promise, which was to be as careful getting out of Iraq as he says George Bush was careless in getting in. ... I think what Obama is saying and what he has said from the beginning is Iraq was the wrong war; Afghanistan is the right war. There are big challenges in Afghanistan and we need to focus on that effort.”

“Because there’s a movement from an early era to a new one, and Obama’s in a good position in this way: He’s able to say he that he accomplished another one of his campaign promises. why that’s important is because what Obama’s been doing it seems to me is playing out a theory. He thinks that if he can accomplish bit by bit what he set out to do, in an evolutionary, not a revolutionary way, he will be able to move the country forward on his time clock.”

But for some, that timeline is exactly what’s wrong with the president’s speech. The announcement marks the beginning of a new operation in Iraq, termed “Operation New Dawn.”

And in the aftermath of the speech, Russia Today focused on Iraq moving forward, speaking with an Iraqi journalist who says U.S. combat troop withdrawal is still a bad idea.

MINA AL-ORAIBI: “In Baghdad today, no one actually cares about the fact that the operation is changing name from Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn. It means nothing to them. What they care about is the fact that there is no government on the ground, they’re worried about what’s happening in the streets, violence is escalating, assassinations are escalating, and basic services are lacking seven-and-a-half years later. ... And it just shows you the fact that the Obama administration continues to talk about this change in mission regardless of what’s actually happening on the ground in Iraq is very worrying.”


Want to watch the speech for yourself? Visit the link in our transcript section.