Obama’s tripling of troops in Afghanistan is downplayed because it doesn’t fit the narrative. (cc photo: US Army/ Michael Casteel)
Given that elite media consider Sen. John McCain’s foreign policy opinions worthy of serious attention, it’s not surprising that the critique of Obama from the right—that he hasn’t used, or threatened to use, military force often enough—is considered the rational basis for a news article.
Consider this David Sanger piece in the New York Times (3/16/14), headlined “Global Crises Put Obama’s Strategy of Caution to the Test.” The set up was familiar:
In his first term, the White House described its approach as the “light footprint”: “Dumb wars” of occupation—how Mr. Obama once termed Iraq—were out. Drone strikes, cyberattacks and Special Operations raids that made use of America’s technological superiority were the new, quick-and-dirty expression of military and covert power.
But now, events in Syria and Ukraine are exposing weakness: “America’s adversaries are testing the limits of America’s post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan moment.” Sanger notes that the “most stinging critique of Mr. Obama is that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of nonintervention,” and he cites the assessment of former Bush national security adviser Condoleezza Rice:
There was a view that if the United States pulled back and stopped “imposing” and “insisting” in the world, the vacuum would be filled by good things: the international community and the allies…. But what has filled that space has been brutal dictators; extremist forces, especially in Iraq and Syria; and nationalism.
The victims of Obama’s foreign policy might disagree that it’s been too cautious. (cc photo: RAWA)
As we’ve noted before here (FAIR Blog, 7/16/13), this quick history of Obama’s “noninterventionist” foreign policy requires one to ignore or severely downplay some inconvenient facts. As FAIR’s Jim Naureckas pointed out (FAIR Blog, 8/30/13):
Since 2009, US drone strikes have killed more than 2,000 people in Pakistan, including 240 civilians, 62 of them children. Since Obama took office, they’ve killed more than 400 in Yemen; drone deaths in Somalia are harder to quantify.
Obama roughly tripled the number of US troops in Afghanistan, from 33,000 to 98,000 (Think Progress, 6/22/11). In 2011, he sent naval and air forces into battle to overthrow the government of Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi. In Iraq, Obama tried and failed to keep tens of thousands of troops in the country beyond the withdrawal deadline negotiated by the Bush administration (New York Times, 10/22/11).
The kind of analysis Sanger is offering downplays the escalation of the Afghan War—a “dumb war of occupation,” one might say—because it fails to fit into the narrative. And while US-led Libya airstrikes toppled the Gaddhafi regime—Sanger characterizes this as Obama reluctantly “agree[ing] to have American forces join the bombing of Libya in 2011″—it would be difficult to argue the outcome so far has been much better than disastrous.
And then there’s the constant grind of US drone wars—often ignored by US media, as Rania Khalek (Dispatches From the Underclass, 3/17/14) notes about the drone strikes in Yemen this month.
Sanger notes that “Mr. Obama’s critics, seeing political advantage, argue that the world smells weakness”—a viewpoint he fleshes out with a quote from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. But politicians like Graham derive a substantial “political advantage” from a media system that advances their worldview by mischaracterizing Obama’s foreign policy record—and which fails to adequately criticize the records of politicians like Graham and McCain, whose reflexive hawkishness is rarely (if ever) treated as if it demonstrates weakness, despite its disastrous consequences.
Obama ia battening down the hatches and avoiding serious journalists in turn for two ferns type appearances and Hollywood celebrity stuff. He will throw in the patriotic stuff of giving medals at the appointed times to help stedy the ship (no disrespect for the honourable fallen as Obama already showed that in Benghazi and failures in Afghanistan). And so this brings me to the point of emotional intelligence.
http://bostonherald.com/comments/1064025536
It is so clear that International diplomacy is suffering because there is no emotional investment into building partnerships. Regan could connect. He had moral…spiritual and emotional intelligence. Biden of all people has to be brought in most of the time to deal with the Republicans and basic relational stuff. Obama is riding on his you can’t ctiticise me because I’m black ticket. Its made him lazy….disengaged….wanting to be somewhere else.
When you lose respect as Obama and Kerry have done it is game over. Impeach the president and put someone in who loves America and wants to be there.Would you be in a relationship with an emotionally disengaged person? What do we value in each other? Emotional intelligence is much more important than general intelligence and Obama is really struggling beyond the late night appearances and celebrity fawning.http://www.al-monitor.com/puls…
Americans get this guy out of office before he starts WWIII. If he can’t respect fellow Americans then what antagonism can he bring internationally. I correct that. What antagonism has he already brought to the table already seems palpable. Impeach this pretender.
Too bad the U.S. didn’t invade Iraq in 2003, instead of letting that UN pussy continue to search fruitlessly for WMDs. That would have been a simple and effective solution.
This once rusted on supporter of Obama is juming ship. Very articulate but a little slow on the uptake.
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/17/former-obama-groupie-burns-her-2008-campaign-t-shirt-tells-off-criminal-in-chief-106842
Simon Smith can go suck eggs. All Reagan knew how to do was to invade small islands and run away from barracks bombings. Obama has done a good job of keeping America out of disastrous oil wars that bleed this country dry and kill our young people, while trashing our standing in the international community. The only ones who call Obama weak are the reich wing nut jobs who just want to enrich the military contractors, while our bridges fall down, our children go hungry and uneducated, and all of our jobs go overseas.
Rice says-
“But what has filled that space has been brutal dictators; extremist forces, especially in Iraq and Syria; and nationalism.”
As if none of that ever happened before Obama. What a crock of bull.
LOL, Obama’s critics..” argue that the world smells weakness..” Oh, well, I suppose the world has had a really bad head cold for a while…more than a decade, I think. yeah, “Shock and Awe,” we certainly have that come back on us as our nation implodes. That popular soundbite ( Shock and Awe) sounds like something that the Oracle at Delphi would have said to Croesus! No one in this nation listened either.
I am impressed with Putin though. That was a fast war, and much better than the long , losing ones we have. Well done too: announce the vote: win the vote: remind the world of the past history; announce It’s over, and it is. How did he do that. : ) Is that what happens when there is no bloated military or so many military supplier corporations? We need to look into cutting them, back, American nation.
Can we just stop with the Reagan war and government memories because I think a lot of people were on drugs when you read some of their recollections. We live in a wasteful, impotent world and government by the few really sucks.
Oh, and for the Reagan fans..( but why?) when get too misty eyed, watch this movie “Hellcats of the Navy” starring Ron and Nancy.
You will say, bad movie, bad acting and looking back on those years
you will realize that his adminstration was as bad as that movie.
I have an idea about foreign policy . It works well for my neighbors and myself. We mind our own business , and don’t meddle in each others affairs. We all get along , and have no problems.
The United States should mind its own business and let other countries solve their own problems. All these people who claim the president has no foreign policy are not satisfied unless we are meddling and inserting the U.S. in other countries. The world would be a much safer place , if we stayed home minded our own business and took care of all the problems in our country. It is not a sign of weakness to stay out of other countries squabbles. There is no reason , we can’t maintain a strong defense and protect our own country. All of these people who are always demanding saber rattling and provocation , are never the people who end up fighting and dying and being wounded in the troubles they stir up. The very same people who are trying to involve us in other countries are always complaining the U.S. doesn’t have any money but they sure don’t mind wasting it on their escapades. These are people like Charles Krauthammer ,Cal Thomas, both Limbaughs , John McCain , Lindsay Graham , and others. Too many democrats play their game because they don’t want to be called soft or unpatriotic We have no business in Syria , Iran Iraq , Egypt , the Ukraine or any other countries. You can bet the U.S. and Europe were both involved in some way in what happened in the Ukraine. The Ukraine , Russia , Crimea and other nearby countries have been involved and part of the same country for hundreds of years if not more. In this 21 century we should have learned some lessons from the past. It would be better to make the best of a bad situation instead of inflaming it.
I believe you will find the true cause of the current trouble is oil , and natural gas. Greed
That corporate media, with regularity, provides McCain the microphone, tells an important story we all need to take note of. The consistent abuse of the fudiciary responsibility for the priveledge of using the public airwaves for monetary gain, amounts to a crime against our system of government. That explains politicians are in the money game where constituents no longer matter, only contributors do.
The problem is not the Ukraine.As Palin said ” Putin wants the Ukraine(or parts of it)back in the Russian sphere.”And lets face it.These people want back.The whole notion of integration into NATO was a tinderbox.One we actually promised never to light.I think there has to be a line in the sand.I just don’t think this is it.I do think it has woken Obama to something that people like Palin were trying to explain to him.These people are not your friends.They are your advisaries.In the future as we unilaterally disarm that may be wise to remember.If we do disarm….people like Putin will.Remember that is.He will see we are a one trick pony.Able to throw a couple missiles.Drones have no fear for russians.They are easy to shoot down.Actually they would not fit in a modern battlefield.And that is the problem.Obama seems to believe we only have to be ready for small insurgent type wars that we have learned to fight so well.Russia ,China,Iran,and many others LOVE that attitude.Sarcasm aside we must stop NOW our unilateral Nuke disarmament.Removal of missile shield(poland).We must stop the 50% downturn to pre ww2 periods of our armed forces.This is no time to turn tail to our advisa,ries.I think Obama needs to understand that he or the next presidents will have no control where, or how we will fight for our national interests.That decision will be made by our enemies.We must be fully prepared.Those who think a weakened US is a better US are fools on par with Chaimberlan.
God**nit I so hate these f**king god**ned warmongering bastards and their great desire to kill kill kill. I know I’m infuriated with them to want to kill, or at least bite nails, but I’d not kill them, just oppose the hell out of them. They are WRONG!!KILLING is WRONG, never justified.
It’s so much easier just to kill, as if they’re just culling herds or something which is bad enough if it’s elephants or other innocent animals. These war advocates ought to be the first to accept guns and put them where the fight is, maybe their eagerness would die down.and they’d not want to put anyone else there, why won’t they learn, WAR, killing is wrong, the death penalty, state sanctioned murder is WRONG. DRONES second attack on those helping the injured in the first attack, is WRONG as was the first attack.
AAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!
Michael e hahahaha seriously you’re quoting Palin as in Sarah Palin dildope of the century?
Reagan is responsible for killing 200,000 campesinos in Central America, don’t dare to praise that warmongering bitch bastard.
“But what has filled that space has been brutal dictators; extremist forces, especially in Iraq and Syria; and nationalism.”
Nationalism? What a shock! Of course it has risen, given that our drone strikes wage a campaign of terror on these countries on a constant basis. What, do we expect them to run into our waiting arms? Do we expect to be seen as saviors?
Regardless, even NPR, that paragon of “liberal” media, has pretty consistently parroted this view that Obama is somehow “weak”. Of course they do it by simply quoting the Right wing pundits without providing an opposing viewpoint.
What’s missing, of course, from all this rhetoric and sabre-rattling, is a clear plan of what the Right feels we SHOULD do.
Invade Syria? Invade Lybia? Invade Pakistan? Invade Yemen? Invade Crimea? I know the military-industrial complex would love that.
Raymond you had a choice once upon a time between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden as VP.You really wanna go there……Then later it was between Ryan and Biden,You REALLY want to go there….See we dont follow you lot who spew hate at Palin,and Rush,Ran Paul and anyone else who is smart enough to diametrically oppose a progressive liberals every move.She has a show coming on called Amazing America.I will be watching.As far as your guy(Biden)…I hope we can quietly thank him for his service and he can fade into a quiet time where he can get the medical help he needs.Nuff said.As far as Reagan……Good lord if ONLY he were back.
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