President Barack Obama, in his second primetime address of his presidency, declared that it was time to turn a page in Iraq, and that the combat mission known as Operation Iraqi Freedom was now over. When Obama took over the war from George W. Bush, he was handed two milestones to meet, from an agreement signed by Bush and the Iraqis one month before Obama took office. The first was getting American combat troops out of Iraqi cities, which happened last summer, and the second was getting all American troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. To these Obama added a third milestone -- withdrawing American forces down to 50,000 troops or less. His speech tonight was the announcement that he had achieved this self-imposed deadline.

Obama struck a rather humble tone in his remarks, which seemed just about right for the situation. He didn't go out of his way to either claim personal credit, or point the finger of blame. He even included President Bush, by name, in his remarks, after phoning him earlier today.

This was a fitting end for a war which divided the American public, in more ways than one. When the war began, the American people supported it at a rate of 70 percent or better. Just tonight, CBS released a poll which showed that, as of now, only 20 percent of the American public think "the war in Iraq was worth it." A whopping 79 percent of them think "it was not worth it." What this mostly shows is the fickle nature of American public opinion. Think about those numbers for a second. That's a "swing vote" of over half the country. In other words, less than half of Americans have held consistent views on the Iraq war since it began.

So it is probably fitting that the phase of Iraq known as Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended. Those letters spell out a sound which most Americans would likely agree with on the entire war exercise and their feelings about it now: "OIF." OIF indeed. Of course, this had to be changed at the last minute heading into the war, because the first label they came up with (Operation Iraqi Liberation) seemed like a great idea, until someone bothered to construct the acronym. OIF, seen in this light, was definitely an improvement.

As I said, I thought Obama matched this tone perfectly. You could tell, listening to him, that most Americans are tired of the subject, and tired of hearing about it. Obama talked about the future of Iraq, the future of their government and their people, and about shifting focus to Afghanistan. He pivoted to speaking briefly about the economy, which was walking a tightrope. If he hadn't mentioned it, his critics would have said "Obama didn't say a word about the economy," and if he had used the Oval Office setting to prod Congress on any particular bill, his opponents would have howled "Obama's injecting politics into a war speech!" Obama, by mentioning the economy but not dwelling on it, tried to walk the fine line between the two. Time will tell whether he was judged successful on it or not (his critics will, no doubt, have something to say on the matter, as usual). Obama did use the speech in one political way -- to prod the Iraqis into getting their act together by forming a government (Joe Biden is over there making this case in person, likely in fairly strong terms). This is indeed the next step which needs to happen in the country, so it deserved a mention in tonight's speech.

Obama restated his commitment to meeting the date at the end of next year for withdrawing all American troops. Now, there is widespread speculation that at least some of those troops will wind up staying, but Obama has been consistent in his resolve to stick to this deadline, meaning the Iraqis themselves are going to have to (very publicly) ask Obama to keep some American troops there for it to happen. The likelihood of this happening is anyone's guess. About the only thing to be sure of is that such a request won't come for awhile, perhaps next summer, if at all.

Obama's address tonight had some poetic phrases in it, mostly towards the end. This is to be expected, as every politician since World War II has tried to hit the gold standard set by Winston Churchill (most of them falling far short). Obama's penultimate remarks were probably the best of these:

Our troops are the steel in our ship of state. And though our nation may be travelling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true, and that beyond the pre-dawn darkness, better days lie ahead.

But a few phrases stood out, for me, from earlier in the address. Most prominently, the "turn the page" line, which I think is exactly how most Americans feel about our entire Iraq adventure -- it's time to move on. I especially liked Obama pointing out that his grandfather served in World War II and took advantage of the G.I. Bill, because (quite obviously) Americans need reminding a goodly part of his family came from Kansas. But the two paragraphs which defined the speech for me (the full transcript of the speech is well worth reading, I should mention):

Ending this war is not only in Iraq's interest -- it is in our own. The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people. We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home. We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people -- a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization. Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page.

As we do, I am mindful that the Iraq War has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it is time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It's well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush's support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq's future.

The greatness of our democracy is grounded in our ability to move beyond our differences, and to learn from our experience as we confront the many challenges ahead.

This, to me, was a breath of fresh air. As I mentioned, over half the country has changed their minds about whether Iraq was worth it or not. That means that a majority of Americans supported the war at some point, and opposed it at some point. Supporting your country in matters of war is a very personal thing, and obviously gives rise to complex feelings. In the heat of "war fever" war opponents can get called some very nasty things (to be fair, so can war supporters). Which is why I certainly appreciated Obama's inclusiveness in saying "there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it." Patriotism goes deep. But my patriotism doesn't always agree with the next guy's. We should be able to express our thoughts without labels like "unpatriotic" (or worse) being thrown around. The depth of feeling on war and American foreign policy -- from both sides of the coin -- show true patriotism. The only thing even remotely unpatriotic would be not caring one way or another, I suppose, by that reasoning. But it was a welcome thing to hear President Obama say from the Oval Office.

As I said, this was indeed a breath of rhetorical fresh air at the end of a very long campaign. And, I believe, it was exactly what was needed right now for America itself to "turn a page," at least on OIF (which still sounds to me like what someone would say after eating a tainted egg). Obama, at least to me, struck the right balance between reviewing the past and encouraging America to look forward. Which is a big part of his job. In other words, Obama looked and sounded very "presidential" tonight.

-- Chris Weigant

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