The decision could not have been an easy one. Easily several highly qualified candidates were under serious consideration as Sen. Barack Obama’s vice presidential nominee. But in the end, Obama showed great prudence by selecting Sen. Joe Biden — one of the most profoundly decent men in Congress, a true patriot, and a man of rare character behind whom any American can stand proudly. More pointedly however, he among the candidates most provided the exact expertise the Democratic ticket previously had in short supply — stellar economic and foreign policy credentials.

As the American economy sinks ever-deeper into the budget hole dug by the reckless pursuits of the Bush administration — caused in no small part by so-called “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” this week’s news that Iraq is now poised to be sitting on a $79 billion budget surplus by year’s end is understandably raising many eyebrows. Many Americans must be hoping for an Operation American Freedom to free our own nation from the burdensome chains of this war that seems to have no end.