Posted on 10/22/2011 11:19:26 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a U.S. pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as success stories.
In a message Obama is likely to push in his 2012 re-election campaign, he said his leadership had made it possible to turn the page on a decade of war and refocus on bolstering the U.S. economy and paying down the national debt.
Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that Gaddafi's death and the announcement that all U.S. troops would be removed from Iraq this year were "powerful reminders of how we've renewed American leadership in the world."
The emphasis on foreign policy comes as confidence in Obama's stewardship of the economy has fallen sharply, causing his overall approval ratings to slide to around 42 percent, the lowest of his presidency.
With the economy's woes weighing heavily on Americans' minds, Obama may have trouble gaining political traction from his message on foreign policy.
The killing in May of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by a U.S. Navy Seal team in Pakistan brought only a temporary boost to Obama's poll numbers.
Obama mentioned bin Laden in the radio speech and said victories against al Qaeda -- along with the policies toward Iraq and Libya -- were "part of a larger story" of success.
"In Libya, the death of Muammar Gaddafi showed that our role in protecting the Libyan people, and helping them break free from a tyrant, was the right thing to do," he said.
"In Iraq, we've succeeded in our strategy to end the war," Obama added.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I’m curious. What do his left-wing anti-war peacenik faggot raghead baby-murdering constituents think about their Ghetto hero whacking out people?
Lets keep an eye on Iraq and Libya in the coming months, Hussein. Dont be going all cocky on us, Obumbo
“powerful reminders of how we’ve renewed American leadership in the world.”
Funny how he had zero foreign policy experience and the MSM made sure that was off the table in 2008. Yet I have a feeling we’ll be hearing plenty about the lack of such experience from the GOP nom.
That quote is hilarious.
No one single Republican or journalist is reminding the public that the Status of Forces Agreement arranged by Bush back in late 2008 required the complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by December 31, 2011, unless further agreements were reached.
That asshat has done nothing regarding Iraq.
Yes. It was in the Status of Fores Agreement that troops be gone by December 31, 2011. Obama has done nothing but steal from Bush.
Yes. It was in the Status of Forces Agreement that troops be gone by December 31, 2011. Obama has done nothing but steal from Bush.
Exactly, Obama is trying to make a virtue of necessity, and trying to sell it as the "success." I wonder though, if the immunity issue was deliberately sabotaged by Obama's negotiating team because he really wanted to withdraw completely and needed a cover of "non-negotiable conditions" to accomplish that. Maliki might have played along, it would make him look tough for his factions - this would be a win-win for Obama's and Maliki's real goals.
Additionally, he is trying to tie the notion of "full withdrawal" as the "end of the Iraq war" which we all know is a lie.
We have won several wars in Iraq, first over Saddam and his forces, and later - using Iraq as preferred field of battle - to demolish the remnants of al-Qaeda and new recruits, which made winning the "war in Iraq" their main goal and holy jihad. Unbeknown to most, the "war in Iraq" became a mousetrap / flypaper / "roach motel" for the al-Qaeda and their recruits who went there to die in large numbers instead of being a fertile breeding ground for worldwide terrorism. This was an overwhelming success that was over well before Obama became the President.
Another problem, that I didn't see being commented on, is that if the "end of the war" requires a full withdrawal of troops from the country whose former regime / government has been defeated, then the U.S. is still at war with Germany, Japan, Italy and in Korea (where NoKo somewhat resembles Iran) because the U.S. keeps the bases and troops there.
Victory has no connection with the "full withdrawal" but Obama is trying to tie them together so he can claim the credit for both "ending the war" and "winning the war" at the same time. Media, of course, bought the tie-in. Of course, Bush failed to take credit for either, so they were on the table for Obama to claim.
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