What a Difference a Year Makes August 2007 Barack Obama to the VFW: “All of our top military commanders recognize that there is no military solution in Iraq.” August 2008 Barack Obama to the VFW: “Let’s be clear, our troops have completed every mission they’ve been given. They have created the space for political reconciliation.” One of the canards of the Iraqi reconstruction was that there “was no military solution,” when in fact almost every commander and analyst realized that only the efficacy of US troops could “create the space for political reconciliation.”