President Obama gets a pass from the press and from the anti-war movement
Posted by Mike Sylvester - 5/25/10 @ 10:43 pm - Filed Under 2010 National Elections, National Politics
The New York Times has a must read article entitled “ U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast.”
I am sure many of the neo-conservatives reading this blog are ecstatic that President Obama is EXPANDING the war on terror in the Middle East.
One of the things that I thought I agreed with President Obama on was the “war on terror.” I was against invading both Iraq and Afghanistan (though I preferred the conflict in Afghanistan to the conflict in Iraq) and I think the “war on terror” is a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. The Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 elections and President Obama was elected in the 2008 election. Democrats have been “bashing” President Bush on the “war on terror” for several years; however, since the Democrats have taken the majorities in Washington DC they have been criminallyhypocritically silent on reversing some of the bad decisions made by the Bush Administration. Lets consider a few:
1. The Patriot Act has been extended and per Freedom of Information Requests the Obama Administration is allowing the Patriot Act to be used more extensively than the Bush Administration did.
2. We currently have slightly more troops in the Middle East than we had under President Bush. We have lowered our force levels in Iraq; however, we have poured those troops into Afghanistan. All signs indicate that President Obama is taking a more active role in Pakistan using our covert forces.
3. President Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Needless to say; it is still open.
4. Military spending has increased.
5. The use of private contractors and “no bid” contracts has continued. Does anyone remember when the Democrats opposed these items?
6. The NYT article I linked to has some particular disturbing items in it:
- First off the NYT is publishing a synopsis of our clandestine operations in its newspapers.
- Secondly per the article “The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.”
- Third per the article “While the Bush administration had approved some clandestine military activities far from designated war zones, the new order is intended to make such efforts more systematic and long term, officials said.”
- We all realize that the United States (Bush and Obama) have detained supposed “enemy combatants” and stripped them of their rights and locked them up in the name of “fighting the war on terror.” Per the NYT article we would be putting our troops in foreign countries (some of which are our allies) and if they are caught they could then be persecuted using the exact same logic The United States is using since our personnel would not be wearing their uniforms. Consider: “Many in the military are also concerned that as American troops assume roles far from traditional combat, they would be at risk of being treated as spies if captured and denied the Geneva Convention protections afforded military detainees.”
The vast majority of the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party are absolute hypocrites. President Obama is pursuing policies that mirror the Bush Administration concerning the “war on terror;” in fact, in some cases President Obama has escalated “the war on terror” that he campaigned against.
Do any of you liberals want to defend President Obama and his policies on the “war on Terror?”
I thought not…
Mike Sylvester
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7 Responses to “President Obama gets a pass from the press and from the anti-war movement”
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Hell even the anti-war purists “code pink” are giving “Teh One” a pass.
Democrats believe in peace like Republicans believe in monogamy.
I want to remove this
RE: #4. The cons will complain if we don’t spend, spend, spend on military. The neocons like ‘ol Dick and daughter, Lynn, will cry, cry, cry that the President is not keeping us safe.
RE: #5. I remember Dick Halliburton telling Sen. Patick Leahy to “Go f yourself”, when it was mentioned that the no bid military contracts needed to be reviewed. Whatever happened to Bunnetine Green & Charles Smith?
Where were the Tea Partiers during the wasteful spending years of Bush’s (Cheney’s ?) presidency?
P.S. President Obama stated during the campaign he would increase troop levels in Afghanistan.
Anon,
The LP was protesting Bush’s overspending as well.
Speaking about the Patriot Act and privacy, the Fort Wayne Airport now has the handy, dandy, see-all scan machine.
I took a friend to catch a plane on Monday, and there it was. A huge machine, and the customers lining up just like sheep to go through it. My understanding is that you can request a pat-down, which is ridiculous in and of itself. But that is what I will request if I ever fly again.
You might as well take off all your clothes when you get in the scan.