Oh please, can we have a little reality here? Given the context of his previous positions, I hardly see how you could expect more. Let’s assume that he had come out with: “As it turns out, President Bush was right, and I was wrong about the surge…etc”
How many of the people here would have said, “You know, this Obama is not such a bad guy”?
In this unfortunate time in American politics, he would have lost more from his left than he would have gained on the right. Would it have been more interesting if he had said the above? Yes. But the level at which he did affirm support for and appreciation of the troops is simply being ignored here because it does not suit your agenda.