Free Republic

Texas Gov. Rick Perry hammered President Obama's energy and immigration policies Wednesday and berated him for not holding a welcome-home parade to salute the U.S. soldiers who served during the war in Iraq over the past nine years. "It really disturbs me that nearly after nine years of war in Iraq that this president wouldn't welcome home our many heroes with a simple parade in their honor," ... We need to welcome our soldiers home -- give them that parade, give them that pat on the back, tell them thank you for the freedom that we have in this country,"

As he closed the door on American military involvement in Iraq, Barack Obama said: “Everything that American troops have done in Iraq—all the fighting, all the dying, the bleeding and the building and the training and the partnering—all of it has landed to this moment of success.” He avoided declaring victory outright, but he did say: “Iraq’s not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people.” At the beginning of December in that stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative...

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today issued the following statement observing the end of the Iraq War: “The end of the Iraq War marks a historic day in our country. I commend President Obama for keeping his promise to remove all American troops from Iraq by the end of this year. After nine years of conflict, this is the right decision at the right time.  “Our experience in Iraq has left us humbled by the strategic miscalculations that made the war more difficult and costly than necessary, but also proud of the overwhelming valor and courage displayed by...

You will leave with great pride -- lasting pride -- secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to cast tyranny aside and to offer hope for prosperity and peace to this country's future generations," Panetta told U.S. troops. But even as a U.S. military band played a medley of patriotic American tunes, the ceremony -- televised live in the 5 a.m. EST hour -- seemed one-sided without Iraqi participation or even a thank-you.

The US flag is to be lowered in Baghdad, formally marking the end of US military operations in Iraq after nearly nine years of war. Most of the 5,500 remaining soldiers have now left Iraq, with security in the hands of the Iraqi authorities. President Barack Obama, who came to office pledging to bring troops home, said the US left behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq". Some 4,500 US soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis have died in the war. It has cost the US some $1tr. Republicans have criticised the pullout citing concerns over Iraq's stability, but most...

FALLUJAH, Iraq — Hundreds of Iraqis set alight U.S. and Israeli flags on Wednesday as they celebrated the impending pullout of American forces from the country in the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah. Shouting slogans in support of the “resistance,” the demonstrators held up banners and placards inscribed with phrases like, “Now we are free” and “Fallujah is the flame of the resistance.” Surrounded by the Iraqi army, demonstrators carried posters bearing photos of apparent insurgents, faces covered and carrying weapons. They also held up pictures of U.S. soldiers killed and military vehicles destroyed in the two major offensives against...

A former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the FBI says played a role in a 1996 terrorist attack that killed 19 U.S. servicemen, accompanied Iraq’s prime minister to the White House on Monday, attending an event at which President Obama trumpeted the end of the Iraq War. Hadi Farhan al-Amiri, transportation minister in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government, was part of the delegation that visited the White House to discuss Iraq’s future and Iran’s influence there, among other topics. -excerpt - Louis J. Freeh, who served as FBI director in the Clinton administration and the early months...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: This afternoon, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Obama addressed the troops. Listen to this. OBAMA: Nine years ago American troops were preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf and the possibility that they would be sent to war. Many of you were in grade school. I was a state senator. Many of the leaders now governing Iraq, including the prime minister, were living in exile. RUSH: "I was a state senator." Meaning I didn't have anything to do with it. Now he's praising the troops. This is October 2nd, 2002. Listen to this. OBAMA: I don't oppose war...