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BY NINA MOINI

“But the bottom line is this the war is ending. Like any sovereign independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course and by the end of next year all of our troops will be home.” (The White House)

President Obama plans to announce Tuesday in a televised press conference the end of formal U.S. military operations in Iraq.

After a 10-day vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, CNN says the President is returning to a schedule jam-packed with foreign policy.

“On his schedule, a major prime time oval office address on Iraq, a visit to U.S. troops in Texas, then two days of Mid-East peace face-to-face talks in Washington.”

Now, some media outlets are questioning whether Obama is strategically shifting his focus — A writer for The Washington Post says the president could be turning the public eye away from difficult domestic issues.

“With little more than two months until the midterm elections, there has been a steady drumbeat of negative economic developments — including a slumping housing market, stalled business spending and ... an announcement that the economy had grown more slowly this spring than anticipated.”

But a correspondent for CBS News says reports indicate the speech has been in works for months and isn’t an approval ratings ploy.

“The president is going to point out that he kept a promise that people didn’t think he could keep — combat troops would be coming out of Iraq at the end of August 2010.”

Still, for Fox News keeping a promise doesn’t mean success.

“But things are far from rosy in Iraq. Iraq’s prime minister put the nation on high alert for terror attacks as the U.S. deadline approaches, and a top intelligence official says he believes suicide bombers have entered the country with plans to strike by the end of the month.”

So what do you think? Is Obama delivering on a promise, or trying to boost ratings for midterm elections?

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