8.31.2010
WASHINGTON--Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt issued the following statement tonight following President Barack Obama's address from the Oval Office marking the end of combat operations in Iraq:
"As American and allied combat troops leave Iraq, they can do so with pride in their service and with the knowledge that the people of the United States and Iraq are grateful for their service and their sacrifice. Throughout what for many servicemen and women were extended and repeated deployments overseas, our troops kept their eyes on the ball, and they leave Iraq as heroes.
"Despite the rhetoric of many high-level Washington Democrats and their efforts to establish artificial deadlines and cut off defense funding, the troop surge in Iraq worked, and tonight President Obama finally acknowledged as much.
"It's critical that, as 50,000 American troops remain in Iraq, we as a nation remember that violent extremist ideologies still exist in many corners of the world and that our efforts to overcome these threats are far from complete. I am hopeful that all the President's future decisions on troop levels in Iraq and elsewhere are driven by the needs of the troops and their mission and not a political calendar."
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