Speech: Obama Shifts War Rhetoric on Iraq, Afghanistan

President Obama declared the formal end of America’s combat mission in Iraq in a primetime address from the Oval Office this week, using the moment to pivot the nation’s attention — and its military resources — toward the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” Obama said, speaking hours after the U.S. mission in Iraq officially transitioned to what the Pentagon is calling Operation New Dawn. Troop levels in Iraq have fallen from a wartime peak of roughly 176,000 in 2007 to below 50,000 this week, the first time the U.S. presence has dropped below that threshold since the 2003 invasion.

Earlier in the day, Obama traveled to Fort Bliss, Texas, to thank troops in person before delivering the speech from the same Oval Office desk his predecessor used to launch the war in 2003. He struck a notably conciliatory tone toward former President Bush, praising his commitment to American troops despite their well-known disagreement over the war itself. “There were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it,” Obama said. “And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women.”

But the more consequential shift in the speech may have been rhetorical, not just historical. Obama used the address to explicitly redirect the nation’s focus toward Afghanistan, telling Americans that resources freed up by the Iraq drawdown would now support the effort there. He announced that a transition toward Afghan-led responsibility for security would begin next August, while cautioning that the pace of any further U.S. troop reductions would depend on conditions on the ground.

The rhetorical pivot comes at a difficult moment for the Afghan war effort. Five more U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan this week alone, pushing the American death toll for the month to 55. Gen. David Petraeus, who now commands coalition forces there after leading the Iraq surge, has publicly acknowledged that progress in Afghanistan remains slow.

Tuesday’s speech fulfilled a timeline Obama first laid out at Camp Lejeune in February 2009, when he pledged combat troops would leave Iraq by August 2010 while a residual force of up to 50,000 remained to advise and train Iraqi security forces. Under the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, all American troops are required to leave the country entirely by the end of 2011.

For an administration eager to demonstrate progress on its central campaign promise to end the Iraq war, the speech offered a milestone worth claiming. Whether “shifting the rhetoric” toward Afghanistan translates into a clearer strategy for that far more uncertain conflict remains to be seen.