AP:Obama achieves defining TV shot in Iraq-Glowing reception a world away from shoe attack on...Bush [View All]

[Pirate Smile]

Obama achieves defining TV shot in Iraq
Glowing reception a world away from shoe attack on war's architect, Bush


U.S. President Barack Obama greets troops during a visit to Camp Victory, near Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday.

ANALYSIS
By Steven R. Hurst

updated 24 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama went for the defining television shot in Iraq and got it: pictures of hundreds of U.S. troops cheering wildly as he told them it was time for the Iraqis to take charge of their own future.
The war zone photo opportunity produced a stunning show of appreciation for Obama from military men and women who have made great sacrifices, many serving repeated tours in a highly unpopular war.

The televised outpouring of affection probably will prove critical to the credibility of a new commander in chief as he tries to sell U.S. warriors and the American public on the grim prospects now facing them in Afghanistan.

-snip-
The president's unannounced stop in battle-scarred Iraq capped a talky, fence-mending sojourn through Europe where the new president, warmly received by the European people, sought to plant seeds of improved relations with standoffish governments.
At Baghdad's Camp Victory, however, assembled U.S. forces mobbed Obama, snapping pictures and stretching out their arms for a handshake with the commander in chief who personally brought the message that they had "performed brilliantly" in a job that was nearly done.

"It is time for us to transition to the Iraqis. They need to take responsibility for their country," Obama told a cheering crowd more reminiscent of adoring campaign supporters than soldiers meeting with their president.

-snip-
Obama's reception as the president who is ending the highly unpopular Iraq war could not have contrasted more starkly with the staid, set-piece visits by the conflict's author, former President George W. Bush.
On his last visit, Bush had to duck as a local journalist threw his shoes at the former president during a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The videotape continues to play repeatedly on cable television, interspersed for contrast with Obama working the crowd of 600 troops who assembled for a warmest of welcomes for a president who is sending them home.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30100370/