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Given President Obama's opposition to the war in Iraq, he did a commendable job of highlighting our troops' achievements as the combat mission ends.

It would have been hypocritical of this president to declare "victory" in his address to the nation Tuesday night. Not only did Obama oppose the war from the start, but Iraq's future is far from certain.

It was therefore unreasonable for conservative critics such as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) to expect Obama to give a chest-thumping speech.