Commentary on President Obama's address

           While watching President Obama's address to students at West Point,  one particular theme rang out to me; the unity of America. Going in, I knew that Afghanistan would be the main topic of the speech, so the amount of focus the president placed on what was going in the U.S. surprised me. Although he explained his plan to dispatch roughly 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, he also discussed the "polarized backdrop" in America. Additionally, the President and his speech writers have an extraordinary vocabulary, and I felt that some word choices were quite fascinating. 
         During the speech, President Obama said that "we were united" by the attacks of september eleventh, and suggested that America has grown apart since then, severely divided by party lines. However, he said that he believed americans can "still come together by a common purpose", and can be united by the "creed that calls us together". I find it fascinating that President Obama decided to look back to the start of our country's existence and reference the Constitution as a means to bring us together. I interpret this to mean that the President believes Americans, although divided by political beliefs, uphold similar ideals of freedom and equality to those in the constitution. I agree. What do you think?
        Additionally, I thought it was interesting that the President said that removing troops from Iraq is a "testament to the character of the men and women in uniform." I'm not sure what he means by this. According to the Oxford American Dictionary, character is "the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual", "strength and originality in a person's nature" and/or a "person's good reputation." Does this mean that the President thinks that it is original to end the war, or that it helps the reputation of America?  Personally, I think the character of the troops might be more visibly demonstrated in combat rather than at home, but I may be wrong. What do you think about his use of the word character?
     Also, here's one last question for you all; the president's speech is called "A New Way Forward." What is the message that you think the president is trying to send with this title?