Obama at LeJune

President Obama headed to Camp LeJune today to make his public announcement about his timetable for withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq. I did not see all the speech but one thing caught my attention (and like many things he has said since he began campaigning it probably sneaked under the radar). When he was talking about the withdrawal from Iraq and other military operations he said, “I will consult with members of congress before making any decisions” (probably didn’t get it word for word but close enough). What was missing?

Military leaders. He did not say, “I will consult with congress AND military leaders”. An oversight? I don’t think so. It might have been an inadvertent omission but it goes to the heart of things. He has no respect for, and does not intend to listen to, military leaders.

I thought it was interesting that out of the four Marines behind Obama in the fixed pool camera shot of the speech two were black. But I’ll tell you - none of them looked happy.

And one other thing. It irritates the heck out of me that he spent another few hundred thousand to take AF One down there just for the photo op of making the speech at a military base. I actually think he thought a lot of them would be happy just to be leaving Iraq - whether the job was done or not. He obviously doesn’t know military people (especially Marines). I would hope that some of their sense of honor and camaraderie would have rubbed off on him - but I doubt it. Like Clinton he has made a serious error that just because he is commander in chief he will automatically be respected by the troops. He doesn’t understand that they will obey all his lawful orders but it doesn’t mean they will respect him.

If you want to go visit the troops - fine. Don’t USE them.