Gibbs, White House push #SaluteTroops

The White House promoted its support for the military Friday on Twitter using the hashtag #SaluteTroops.

The push followed a series of moves earlier in the day by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who previewed an upcoming speech he’ll give on the Iraq war by releasing an op-ed and Web video that slam Democrats for “seeking credit” for the end of the combat phase in Iraq.

{mosads}”With all due respect to them, our troops who have served so
courageously in Iraq deserve the credit for the success of the surge
and, along with the Iraqi people, the turnaround in Iraq,” Boehner wrote.

Iraq represents the latest battle between the White House and Boehner, who recently gave a speech slamming Democrats for misrepresenting the state of the economy in order to shore up their chances for November.

On Friday, press secretary Robert Gibbs started the push to recognize the troops, saying:

Thanks to our troops for the tremendous sacrifices that they & all of their loved ones make #SaluteTroops wh.gov/salute

The linked site aggregates social-media clients and encourages visitors to use them to “share your salute.”

The official White House account later tweeted:

8/31/10: End of Combat in Iraq. Use #SaluteTroops to share your message of thanks, President Obama’s video here: wh.gov/salute

It followed up by retweeting Gibbs’s message along with three other tweets thanking the troops.

Taking a cue from the White House, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) tweeted the following message from his own account and from the account representing Democrats on the House Armed Service Committee, which he chairs:

#FollowFriday- Follow our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines! @USArmy, @NavyNews, @AFPAA, @USMC. #FF #SaluteTroops

Obama will give a major prime-time address from the Oval Office on Tuesday about Iraq. He is expected to stress that he kept the promise he made on the campaign trail for a “responsible” withdrawal of U.S. forces there.