Washington (CNN) — When President Obama steps into the Oval Office to deliver his prime-time address on Tuesday, he won’t be taking a victory lap and won’t utter the words “mission accomplished, a top aide says. Instead, the president will have a “change of mission” moment, where he explains the way forward in Iraq and thanks U.S. troops for their sacrifice.
The address, which is expected to last between 15 and 20 minutes, will mark what the White House is calling an important “milestone” and a campaign promise accomplished.
While the president’s remarks have not been released, top aides say Americans will hear about the end of the combat mission in Iraq, about the challenges of forming a unified and stable government, and about the new role for the fewer than than 50,000 U.S. troops remaining to advise and assist Iraqi security forces.
“We will be their ally, but the responsibility of charting the future of Iraq first and foremost belongs to the Iraqis,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said during a briefing on Monday.
The August 31 drawdown and end to the U.S. combat phase is a new page in what has been a controversial seven-year conflict. Weapons of mass destruction, the justification by the Bush administration for going to war, were never found. Saddam Hussein was toppled along with his massive Baghdad statue, but sectarian violence soon erupted.
The war in Iraq has so far claimed the lives of more than 4,400 U.S. troops.
Obama placed a call to President George W. Bush on Tuesday from Air Force One, said deputy White House spokesman Bill Burton. The call lasted a “few minutes.”
Instead Gibbs said the improving political situation on the ground played a big role in the decrease in sectarian violence.
This will be Obama’s second Oval Office address since taking office. His first took place on June 15, when he talked to Americans about the BP oil disaster and the effort to stop the massive leak and clean up the Gulf Coast region.
