President Barack Obama spoke today in Atlanta to the Disabled American Veterans, an event effectively marking the end of combat operations in Iraq, which is officially set to end on August 31. Obama praised the troops and asked the nation to show respect for their sacrifice. The president emphasized that his administration has “brought more than 90,000 of our troops home from Iraq,” making good on his campaign promise to bring the war to a close. However, as the war in Iraq winds down, the war in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly more deadly to American troops. Obama asked for support for the war in Afghanistan, saying, “if Afghanistan were to be engulfed by an even wide insurgency, al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates would have even more space to plan their next attack,” and that “as President of the United States, I refuse to let that happen.”
-Philip Bunnell