White House spokesman Josh Earnest dodged when ABC's Devin Dwyer asked him why President Obama did not mention American military engagement Iraq or Afghanistan in his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Both conflicts represent foreign policy shortcomings for Obama. He announced earlier this month he will leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan at the end of his term, despite promising that he would end that war during his administration. Meanwhile, Obama still has troops deployed in Iraq, despite declaring the conflict there to be over in 2011, as he still struggles to deal with the plague of the Islamic State.
Dwyer said that the lack of mention raised the attention of several service members he'd been in contact with since the speech. Earnest gave a lengthy answer, but none of it answered Dwyer's question.
Earnest first criticized Donald Trump's comments on the current state of the military and mentioned how Obama was introduced by a woman whose son died in Afghanistan.
"I think speeches to a political convention are a little different than speeches, for example in the context of a State of the Union, where there's a set of issues that has to be covered," Earnest said.
None of what Earnest said, however, answered why Obama did not mention those conflicts. Dwyer mentioned how Obama had not neglected these issues in past speeches to the Democratic National Convention, but did this time as he finishes his time as president.
Full exchange:
REPORTER: Just one more quick follow-up, I was in touch with a number of service members last night during the speech, a couple of who are in theater, several who are here, and one thing that struck them was that the president did not mention, as he has in all of his previous DNC speeches, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and troops who are in harm's way right now, and I was wondering if there's any kind of reason why the president didn't specifically mention those wars and the troops aside from the fight against ISIL in—
EARNEST: Yeah, yeah, well first of all, Devin, I think the president certainly did talk about how disappointed he was to hear rhetoric on the other side of the aisle that describes the United States military as a disaster. In fact, the president described the United States military and the men and women who serve in it as the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. That was included in his speech. The president was introduced to the stage yesterday, last night, by a woman whose son served and gave his life for the United States in Afghanistan and she told, I thought, a pretty powerful story about the way that the president has honored her son's sacrifice and her family's sacrifice for the country. So, I think speeches to a political convention are a little different than speeches, for example in the context of a State of the Union, where there's a set of issues that has to be covered. But, I think the president made clear his deep appreciation for the service of our men and women in uniform who are serving our country all around the world, including, right now in Iraq and Afghanistan to keep us safe.