Obama and Iraq: Nothing New

President Obama's speech about the "end" of combat operations in Iraq is pretty much fluff. I want you to remember that this change in the U.S. forces in Iraq is all part of a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) reached between the two nations before Obama took office.

(Note: If you're not familiar with SOFAs, the U.S. has one with any country where U.S. forces are stationed, which is just about everywhere. They guide the rules of conduct for U.S. forces.)

So what is happening now has nothing to do with Obama. Though I'm sure he and his vice-idiot will take credit for it. The good part of all this is that we can bring some more of our troops home (oops...many of them get to go to Afghanistan now). The bad part is that Iraq may descend into anarchy. I'd hate to see all the death and suffering accomplish nothing.

The Associated Press was one of the few media outlets that even mentioned the SOFA.

The president was walking a difficult line in his speech Monday to the Disabled American Veterans. His ambiguous record on the war before taking office and the fact that an end-of-2011 total withdrawal deadline was already in place were sure to have diluted his message.

As an opponent to what he, in 2002, called "a dumb war, a rash war," Obama also strenuously challenged the Bush administration's so-called troop surge in 2007, which is broadly credited with pulling Iraq back from the brink of civil war.

Obama said the combat mission will end by Aug. 31 "as promised and on schedule," but the pullout was, in fact, preordained by the U.S.-Iraqi "Status of Forces Agreement" that took effect before his inauguration in January 2009.

So what has Obama really accomplished? Not much, in my view.

With Obama's approval rating now at 41 percent, and the approval rating for Congress at historic lows, we have to ask ourselves "Why do we elect these people?"