Mission Accomplished

Charles Hurt on the President's "Mission Accomplished" speech.

He undermined the very campaign that ushered him into the White House and gave
Democrats their huge majorities in Congress.

It was as if, in keeping his promise to end the war in Iraq, Obama had become a convert to it.

He heralded the very success he had predicted could never be attained.

He lauded the defeat of an evil regime "that had terrorized its people" -- a despot he once considered an irrelevant distraction from what he called the "real war" that needed to be won in Afghanistan.

And, speaking to soldiers at Fort Bliss earlier yesterday, he said that because of this fight, "America is more secure."

Obama even talked about the importance of Iraq as a "friend" and a "partner" in the Middle East.

Literally, the address could have been delivered word-for-word by former President George W. Bush, whose steadfastness in Iraq earned him the blind hatred of so many liberals.