Off The Cuff, Ctd

A reader writes:

Fallows is largely on the mark here, though he moves too quickly through the latter half of the speech.  Speaking of Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama said: "I am the Commander-in-Chief of a country that's responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies."  In the middle of this sentence, he drifts off slightly, seems to lose focus, and then quickly reconnects.  It's a brief moment, but a telling one. The immediate impact of this award will be to frame his decision to commit troops in the Afghan theater or to draw down our forces there.  I don't think the Nobel committee is so crass as to attempt to influence that specific policy decision.  At the same time, Obama must certainly be considering the implications of his status as a freshly-minted Nobel laureate on that looming choice.