Obama Salutes George Bush in Iraq War Speech

(NEWSER) - The ban on media at Dover Air Force Base when America’s war dead come home ignores the very rights they died fighting for, and it should be lifted, Connie Schultz writes for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Supporters of the Iraq war have long argued that media images of the fallen are nothing more than political statements,” Schultz writes. But "suppressing these images is the more blatant political ploy.” More»

But 44 needs to make his case to America

(NEWSER) - When it comes to war, Presidents Bush and Obama really aren’t so different, writes Stephen Carter in Newsweek . While Obama was perceived as the peace candidate, “the office of the presidency, once assumed, transforms the outlook of its holder.” To wit: Obama is essentially recycling Bush's Iraq strategy for Afghanistan, and has expanded the targets in the fight against terror. He's "adopted wholeheartedly what we might call the Bush doctrine's political science" of preemptive strikes. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are "his wars now, nobody else's." More»

Pundits underwhelmed by 'grim' war-end speech

(NEWSER) - The verdicts are in on President Obama's Oval Office address to mark the end of major US combat operations in Iraq, and he apparently didn't please many people.

• The president just wasn't entertaining enough for Bill O'Reilly. The president seemed like a "boring professor," the O'Reilly Factor host complained, criticizing even the way Obama held his hands. "You can’t get him on substance, so you go over his style," guest Alan Colmes retorted.

Says speech tonight won't be a 'victory lap'

(AP) - Hours before addressing the nation, President Obama told US troops just back from Iraq that his speech outlining the withdrawal of combat forces "is not going to be a victory lap" nor a cause for celebration. "There's still a lot of work that we've got to do." Still, "the main message I have tonight, and the main message I have to you, is congratulations on a job well done," Obama told soldiers at the Army's Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. He also noted that there remained "a tough fight ahead in Afghanistan ... A tough slog." More»

Ex-presidents will help direct 'full-court press' on Haiti

(NEWSER) - In addition to pledging $100 million to Haiti relief efforts, President Obama is calling in some familiar names for help. He's asked former presidents Clinton and the younger of the Bushes to lead US relief efforts, reports Politico . Clinton is currently the UN special envoy to the nation. In other developments: More»