Obama speech: Official end to U.S. combat in Iraq, but so many But's

After becoming the first president ever not to address fellow citizens from that strangely clear desk during his first year in office, the Democrat gave his second Oval Office speech in 11 weeks Tuesday night to mark the scheduled end of U.S. combat ops in Iraq after seven years and 4,421 American deaths.

Obama had to mark the occasion because his entire Democratic political personna was based on opposition to the Iraq war. (Also closing Guantanamo; but that's another story.) And there are midterm elections looming Nov. 2 with polls predicting a stateside surge in Republican troops.

But Obama couldn't celebrate the combatless occasion because, truth be told, there's still a lot of killing to be done over there, even with American forces reduced to 50,000 from a peak of 176,000. Nevermind President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" gaffe, Obama has his own embarrassing "Recovery Summer" scar still unhealed.

The first-term president learned a few things from his previous....
...major statements. On June 15, talking about the oil spill calamity, his hands fidgeted distractingly. This time, epoxied together. Stiff back. Serious demeanor. Almost scrawny. A lecturer, not a father figure. There will be a midterm exam.
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