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Subscribe to RSS“U.S.-led coalition troops battling Afghan Taliban insurgents have killed Al Qaeda’s second-in-command in Afghanistan in an air strike in the country’s eastern province of Kunar, the coalition said Tuesday,” the L.A. Times writes.
Meanwhile, the New York Times takes an in-depth look at Obama’s war with al Qaeda. “Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an expanding ‘kill list,’ poring over terrorist suspects’ biographies on what one official calls the macabre “baseball cards” of an unconventional war. When a rare opportunity for a drone strike at a top terrorist arises — but his family is with him — it is the president who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation. ‘He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go,’ said Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser. ‘His view is that he’s responsible for the position of the United States in the world.” He added, “He’s determined to keep the tether pretty short.’”
The L.A. Times: “Most Memorial Day messages from presidents involve the sort of solemn boilerplate remarks that barely break through the barbecue smoke and picnic chatter. On Monday, President Obama took a decidedly different tack: He noted the end of one war, promised the end of another and sought closure and healing for a third.”
“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday urged a divided Congress to unite and avoid scheduled budget slashing that would bring total defense cuts to almost $1 trillion in the coming decade,” the Boston Globe writes.
Michelle Obama talks to USA Today’s Susan Page about her new book on the White House vegetable garden, “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America.” Will she ever run for office? "Absolutely not. It will not happen. … No chance at all."
Over the weekend, the first lady and daughters were in Atlantic City, N.J., for a Beyoncé concert.
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Obama is the best commander-in-chief in recent memory - and he is committed to peace. There is nothing inconsistent here:
if you want peace, prepare for war - ancient Roman wisdom
Pigotry,
obama has done nothing but send the messege to our enemies, that they can do what every they want. We will slap you on the wrist and ask you to please stop. He bows to china and russia. He is scared to take them on. He lets out to much vital information and has left Isreal to to defend itselt. All he has done in the middle east is to, flame the radiacals into power.
And yet...the Obama administration has been incredibly successful at killing terrorists, as this post notes, ridding the world of dictators like Qaddafy (America's enemy for at least 30 years) and forging better relations with our allies and competitors (welcome to New York, Mr. Chinese dissident.)
George W, Bush and Romney are cut out of the same cloth - tough-talkers and incredibly ineffective in action. President Obama, on the other hand, has had success piled on success, in the foreign policy world, he is one cool dude.
Amy,
You give him way to much credit. As much as I do not like our current president, I would like to give him credit when deserved. I have not bee able to. All the things you mention in your post are embellished and over rated. You really need to study up on Libya and Egypt. This man can not even get the support of troops and veterens. That should tell you somehting.
MRWSR quit posting. You don't have a clue what you're talking about.
MRWSR.
If Obama is weak, what the hell do you think of Bush? President Obama accomplished more in 3.5 years than President Bush WISHED for in 8.
Mo,
You the blog police? Post away MRWSR.......
bayllie,
Tell me why the ROE changed in AFG then if Obama is not weak? I'll give you a day to figure it out,by the way what did Obama do in 3.5 yrs? If you say OBL, ok but with intel gathered from the past. What else? Sending in drones to kill? You get more intel from live terrorist, but if killing them works for you, cool.
"intel gathered from the past".
You have that on what authority?
That is not what the post-mortem report stipulates.
Entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.
killing terrorists works for me.
Funny, Republicans don't want to give Obama credit for governing nimbly in dangerous times, having inherited a tanking economy, and saddled with an obstructive Republican congress, but we knew they weren't going to take responsibility for Bush's disasterous terms. Independents have no such agenda, they are not blinded by partisan hate, and they will re-elect one of those most successful Presidents we have ever had.
Paul-Florida
So basically you want the Rules of Engagement to match the ones of those that we call the terrorists? Or the savages? Or the enemy?
Tell me Paul, you want this country to do exactly the same evil things we try to fight? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot call yourself BETTER or SUPERIOR unless you prove it with your actions. And if you want to act like them, you are them.
Blah blah blah you people -along with Dick, keep saying that but if intel was collected in the past then you just told me that Bush was that much more INCOMPETENT. It took a real Commander-in Chief to act like a Commander-in Chief.
No Paul, what works for me is not sending someone's son, father, mother, daughter, sister, or brother to be killed or wounded. And for what? To prove to Daddy Bush that Son Bush could accomplish what Daddy Bush couldn't?
And all that while draft dodging Bush and draft dodging Romney want to send more Americans to get killed. Send your own kids to get shot at, you hypocrites!
The right wingers can't give a legitimate reason for their hatred of Obama. To say he is weak on foreign affairs is beyond reprehensible. We now are again highly regarded on the world front because of President Obama. He has stood firm, without starting new wars. He makes little Mitt look like the diminished capacity individual he is.
Obama/Biden 2012
MrMSR, Please explain how DEAD AL Qaeda terrorist Leaders are being appeased...(chuckle), What a TeaTurd moron. The GOP has lost their edge on National Security. Polls say that Obama is trusted more to defend America than Romney.
Romney has no core.
Mitt Romney....he will always agree with you....eventually
nice attempt at deflection sheila, It was under the bush2 watch that bin ladens courier was identified and subsequently tracked until bin laden was found under obamas watch.
You do understand how that works don't you? A small team is much more effective than a large one, especially if the quarry has gone to ground.
Seeking sanity, you are the one promoting hatred, all we do is point out obamas incompetence as potus. Isn't it the job of the POTUS to seek unity, rather than offer up blaming others? Harry truman said that the buck stopped with him, yet for obama it always stops somewhere else.
It's one and done for obama, and if romney doesn't deliver it is one and done for him as well.
Yup, that right, just ask Osama bin laden. he'll agree with you.
Chirs,
Glad he made the call, won't take that away from him. But you act like he killed him, himself.
Obama is weak and with China drilling for oil 90 miles off our coast, Russia and Iran becoming bed partners, etc.....
Y'all kiss his feet all you want. Weak is a nice as I can put it.
Bayllie,
Would not have gotten bin laden with out Bush and his efforts and teams of intelligence. All things obama has said he was against.
mrwsr
so you want the President to start a war with china?!?! because there drilling of Cuba, which is 70-90 miles from the Keys.
Since there isn't any diplomatic way to stop China or other country to stop drilling in international waters. So may be Romney should play that card. War with china.
Iran bed partners? again WTF are you talking about. Iran's economy is on the verge of collapse. Because of the our and the international community efforts.
And you forget also, what was al qaeda leadership, is all but dead.
ALSO, THE NAME IS CHRIS NOT CHIRS. sorry I'm beginning to sound like skippy. (he like to correct other people grammar).
yeah Mr "I spent the Vietnam War ringing doorbells in France" will be so much tougher than the guy who has just crammed a lifetime of travel, diplomatic negotiations and military briefings into three years. President Obama may not have been more qualified than Romney is, when he was elected, but he certainly is more experienced now.
MRWSR.
yes, he did: by saying "YES" or "NO." without Obama's "YES" there would be no dead Bin Laden. What part of that, don't you understand?
Chris,
Iran is funding more than half of the terroirist organizations and governments in the Middle east. Russia, Venezuela, North Korea, China, Turkey are still funding them. I do not want to see more war. But we have to watch the money trail here and watch how they see our president as weak and scared.
No sitting president would have not taken out bin laden. He did the right thing, but I give credit to the men who took him out, the men who found him, the men who stayed after him.
The GOP Teatards are the ONLY ones saying this. You WANT the President to take sole credit for it...he never did...and your effort to water the sucess down with a lie has failed. Face it, you conservatives have LOST the national security argument for this election.
SORRY, we still remember Bush's 'Mission Accomplished' Banner before any of those terrorits were killed (or allowed to escape Tora Bora under Bush's watch)...or before we lost several thousand nore soldiers and 8 more years of fighting.
GOP has nothing on Obama and National Security. You lost the issue GOP, Get Over It.
Yeah, like Obama who re-instated the funding for the unit that was cancelled by Bush because....'Bin LAden just isnt a prority'. So I agree, Bush walked away from pursuing Bin Laden and Obama picked it up and finished Bush's job for him.
So what is the Rommney plan for dealing with Iran, then? What would make it so we arent viewed as 'weak'. Another war against Iran? Oh wait that cant be...becaiuse you said this:
That makes it international waters, so what do you suggest we do to stop it?
What is Romneys plan besides his 'ominous' policy to call them a 'currency manipulator' (chuckle) talk about weak. What is the Romney policy on China'? What happens Day 1? Wher are his solutions?
Where is the Romney Foreign Policy solutions? Mitt? Got policy? Got Solutions?
Romney has no Core
2 lane, you must have forgotten obamas anniversery celebration for bin ladens assassination
american-2051576
celebration? It was more of a speech - compared to the Bush's "Mission Accomplished" celebration three months into a war that ended up lasting 9 years.
MRWSR:
The CIC cannot get the support of Veterans and Troops?
You are not serious! You picked that nonsense up from a recent "poll".
The same poll reflects Obama does not have the support of White men.
See the connection there.
Sure wish we had a Kill List before 9/11 and Bush would have had the temerity to use it as effectivelty as Obama has used his list...
The Terrorist Kill List is a good thing. Take them off the playing field. One at a time if that is what works. Just take them off the field.
Obama/Biden 2012
Not just a recent poll. Sorry, this is a constant number. Even when he ran in 2008. Nothing has changed with it.
Blame Bush CIC, its your only card.
One thing you will not ever know is the efforts and all the targets taken out under Bush. They did not use them as trophies. There were many that never made it in the news papers. That's the way they wanted it. Humble, not something obama is.
Maybe if President Clinton had done more to take out Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders 9/11 would not have happened. There were more terrorist attacks on the United States under Clinton than any other President. Remember Clinton was offered Bin Laden and he wouldn't or couldn't accomplish the defeat. Bin Laden took up residence in Afghanistan while Clinton was President.
BTW, Obama likes to brag about how many terrorists he has killed and wants credit for it as Commander-in-Chief. However, I didn't see him saying that he was responsible for the attack on the soldiers at Ft Hood, TX. I never hear him talking about the approximately 1400 American troops killed under his leadership. (Almost 3 times the number killed on Bush's watch). Never see the MSM talking about casualties or posting pictures of caskets arriving at Dover anymore.
You are really reaching, lol. So you really expect us to believe that the moron president who landed on an airctaft careir and declared 'Mission Accomplished' before ANY of the terrorists were killed and with 8 more years of fighting to go and thousands more soldiers yet to die is being 'humble'.. God you are so stupid. hahahahahahah
Hey, whatever makes you feel better. And maybe if Gerorge Bush Sr had finished the war in Iraq or Reagan had been paying attention to who we were supporting in Ahghanistan , then 9/11 wouldnt have happenned either/ Or perhaps if Bush Jr had concentrated on AL Qauda insteda of chasing phantom WMD's, and letting Osama get aay in Tora Bora, then we could have avoided extending the war and the TRILLION dollras it cost us.
The American voter trusts Obama over the GOP on National Security. The GOP has LOST the National Security issue to Obama in this election. Get over it.
Well, then , if no one knows, then this is just speculation on your part then, right? In opther words, useless information. Your as bad as Rumsfield and is 'unknown knowns'
2 lane - how droll, so now it is good foreign policy for the potus to support public assassinations without due process? Might as well shoot our own lawbreakers down in the street as well, right?
MRSW is right, better to keep assassinations secret to make the opposition wonder. We don't need to know.
Truly, we are blessed to have Obama as president. At least 90% of critizism of him is completely unwarranted. Just the phony unethical and unhonorable agenda of the Koch bros who run the GOP. Nothing more, nothing less. As these sheep on the right continue their ignorance at all of our expense, makes you wonder what the next 4 yrs will bring if re-elected? More of the same obstruction if Dems do not win congress? Guess the country is not as bad off as we might think if the right can afford to hold back the future like they have the last decade. Or is it the Koch bros can afford the future with or without you and I? I believe it is the latter. Vote independent or democrat. This new degree of dysfunction the right has brought to american politics is completely unhonorable. Please do not let the unhonorable control our future. VOTE!
Obama is accomplishing what Chicken George couldn't or wouldn't do. He is cutting off the head of the snake so it will ultimately die. Finally a C I C with the guts to take necessary action and do it right.
sfcret-
" I never hear him talking about the approximately 1400 American troops killed under his leadership. (Almost 3 times the number killed on Bush's watch). "
Did you forget the 4000 + killed under W's watch in Iraq? Remember the UNNECESARY WAR? Mission Accomplished. Yeah, right.
Right wingers will say just about anything to try and diminish this President.
Pathetic!
Sheila MD - Nice try at deflection. The topic is about killing terrorists mostly in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. The Iraq war is over we are no longer there because of the agreement between President Bush and the Iraqi Government. BTW, I have said on numerous posts that I was not in favor of invading Iraq to get of Saddam Hussein and feel Bush took his eye off the ball in pursuit of OBL.
You never answered my questions, just tried to deflect, which is all you left wings nuts can do. Why aren't you demanding that we pull our troops out of Afghanistan within 6 months, since the purpose we went into Afghanistan was for the purpose of getting OBL and some of his Lieutenants, that's been accomplished.
Beacuse Bush and his neo-con toads turned it into more than that....nationbuilding
Oh, btw, we are still waiting on all that Iraqi Oil Dick Cheney promised that would be gushing into to US cofferes to pay for the war....so where is it?
Gypsy - You haven't added anything to the subject except the left wing answer to everything, "It's Bush's Fault." Obama has been President for 3.5 yrs, OBL was killed over a year ago. Obama just signed an agreement with Afghanistan that we will support them militarily until the end of 2014 and financially until at least 2024. That means Obama will be responsible for troops being in Afghanistan for 6 years, almost the same time as Bush.
Get a life and quit living in the past. The only way you left wing nuts try and defend Obama's record is "Blame Bush". That is really getting old.
Wow.......you obama fans have no issue with the amount of money us, our kids, and their kids will be paying out in the future? we won't have a country to call our own if he don't stop spending. i don't think we can afford another term with obama.....all this talk about bush is pathetic....