By Shawn Allee, IL Public Radio
Chicago, Ill. – Illinois' junior U.S. Senator, Barack Obama, will address Iraq policy at Chicago's Council on Global Affairs today (monday).
It's an encore of his appearance a year ago, but since then the war, the political environment, and Obama himself have changed.
War architect Donald Rumsfeld has left, the Democrats will soon take power, and Obama's fueled speculation he'll run for president.
For all those reasons, political analysts will scrutinize Obama's Iraq speech for some time to come.
"I can't think of anyone who seriously believes whoever's elected in 2008 won't be still be wrestling with this," noted Jay Parker, who is with a non-partisan research group called the Center for the Study of the Presidency.
Obama's office did not give details about the senator's speech. But in recent weeks, he and fellow Senator Dick Durbin have called for the Iraqi government to take a bigger role in its own security.