End the war...next year!

They say - whoever "they" are - that it is better late than never; President Obama is setting a definite date to have combat troops out of Iraq. From The Associated Press:

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – President Barack Obama drew a firm finish line in the Iraq war Friday, six years after the invasion he opposed and six weeks into his presidency. Obama said he will withdraw combat forces within 18 months. "Let me say this as plainly as I can," he said. "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."

Yet in the same speech before Marines and military leadership, he said the vast majority of those involved in the pullout will not leave this year. Obama also said tens of thousands of U.S. personnel will remain behind to train and advise Iraqis.

"We have forged hard-earned progress, we are leaving Iraq to its people, and we have begun the work of ending this war," he said.

Obama was moving to fulfill in large measure the defining promise of his presidential campaign — to end combat operations within 16 months of taking office. He's doing it in 19 months instead.

The president said the U.S. cannot "let the pursuit of the perfect stand in the way of achievable goals." That was a declaration not of mission accomplished, but of mission accomplished as best as America could — this in the face of Obama's growing commitment to the conflict in Afghanistan, the other war he inherited.

Unfortunately Obama fails to realise that with the good of finally getting American troops out of Iraq, he is making a terrible error in judgement in shifting the focus to Afghanistan. If you recall (and many don't), the attackers of 9/11 were Saudis and Pakistanis. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan had anything to do with 9/11, but the common thread between those two countries was that a war in either one would be well neigh unwinnable. So, let's recap: Obama gets gold star for setting a precise date that American troops will no longer occupy Iraq, but he gets a red checkmark for thinking continuing the war in Afghanistan is worth the bloodshed.