On March 7, President Barack Obama made a brief appearance in the Rose Garden to comment on Iraq's just-completed parliamentary election. Obama hailed the vote as a success and condemned the insurgents who carried out a few scattered attacks in Baghdad. Then he returned to what is for him a familiar theme, casting the ballot as yet another milestone on the road to ending the seven-year-old Iraq War.
"The Iraqi people must know that the United States will fulfill its obligations," Obama said. "We will continue with the responsible removal of United States forces from Iraq." ...