The End of Iraqi Freedom

The president, in his address to the nation stated, "time to turn the page", referring to the war in Iraq and its divisiveness has come to an end. In his address the president fulfilled a campaign promise to the end the Iraq war and focus on the real threat, the war in Afghanistan.

The problem is that the President Obama still hasn't clarified what sort of diplomatic effort he envisions in Iraq. His current point person in Iraq has a very dubious record regarding foreign policy efforts in the region. The question we should be asking is will the U.S. still be engaged in Iraq when combat forces leave the country?

After informing the American people of the end of the Iraq war, the president shifted to Afghanistan. President Obama mentioned the troop surge and his decision to remove U.S. forces from Afghanistan is conditioned based, but unfortunately everyone in the region sees it differently. The July 31, 2011 deadline is hampering efforts, as the Afghan people are nervously remembering that we left once before and fear will leave again.

The last thing the president mentioned was the economy, but indirectly he placed blame on the previous administration, when both political parties were responsible for the decline of the U.S. economy. Both share the blame, and both still view the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in partisan eyes.

Both political parties need to stop playing partisan politics and work to solve the problems confronting America; is that too much to ask!