End of US combat mission means Iraqis are in charge

America has paid an enormous price over the past seven and a half years to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Iraq.

As of Tuesday, 4,427 Americans had died, 34,268 had been injured — many seriously — and hundreds of billions of dollars had been spent.

And yet, as President Obama was announcing to the nation Tuesday night that “Operation Iraqi Freedom is over,” the reality is that the country many Americans cared little about prior to 2003, is still in a state of flux.

The presence of a caretaker government in Baghdad, the deadly attacks by insurgents, the slow pace of reconstruction, the daily power shortages and the tension between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds over the sharing of oil revenue illustrate the challenges that President Obama talked about.

Nearly 100,000 American troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, hundreds of bases have been transferred to Iraqis and millions of pieces of equipment have been removed.

“This completes a transition to Iraqi responsibility for their own security,” Obama said in the prime time address to the nation from the Oval Office.

He tried a put a positive spin on what is taking place in Iraq, saying that even as terrorist attacks continue, security incidents have been near the lowest on record since the war began. He also noted that Iraqi forces have taken the fight to al-Qaida, removing much of its leadership in Iraqi-led operations.

Nonetheless, the withdrawal of American soldiers has not been met with widespread celebration in Iraq because of the public’s concern about the central government’s ability to meet the challenges the country faces.

Likewise at home, many Americans have grown weary of war and wonder whether the continuing conflict in Afghanistan, which was invaded in 2001 by a U.S.-led coalition force, will end any time soon.

It is not only the death and injury toll that has turned the public against the war on global terrorism launched by former President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America’s homeland.

The collapse of the global economy and the recession in the U.S. that began in 2008 has triggered widespread job losses. The middle class has been hardest hit, resulting in the president’s approval rating falling to new lows.

Thus, Obama’s speech Tuesday night, while important and politically significant in that the end of the combat mission is a campaign promise kept, was overshadowed by the reality on the home front.

Obama certainly seemed aware of this.

“We have now been through nearly a decade of war. We have endured a long and painful recession. And sometimes in the midst of these storms, the future that we are trying to build for our nation — a future of lasting peace and long-term prosperity — may seem beyond our reach.

“But this milestone should serve as a reminder to all Americans that the future is ours to shape if we move forward with confidence and commitment. It should also serve as a message to the world that the United States of America intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership in this young century.”

Tall order

It’s a tall order, but one that deserves to be considered.

America isn’t walking away altogether from Iraq. There will be military advisers working with Iraqis security forces and a substantial civilian presence through the State Department and other agencies.

The president made it clear that this nation’s commitment to Iraq’s future is not ending. That’s how it should be, given the investment of lives and money that has been made over the past seven years.