Barack Obama turns the page in Iraq, sets sights on sour U.S. economy

September 1, 2010

The Globe and Mail

As U.S. President Barack Obama unburdened himself of America’s nation-building obligations in Iraq, he pledged in his second Oval Office speech to devote himself to the “most urgent task” of reconstruction at home.

“It must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as President,” Mr. Obama said of restoring the battered U.S. economy, in a prime-time address Tuesday to mark the official end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.

The speech was a calculated political risk designed to prove to supporters and opponents alike that the President is making good on his promise to “responsibly end” the U.S. mission in Iraq and is moving on to what matters most to American voters – jobs.

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