washingtonexaminer | President Obama has killed hundreds of
civilians, including women and children, in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia
through a drone war aimed at exterminating the suspected terrorists on
his unprecedented and ever-expanding "kill list" -- a list that has
included U.S. citizens.
In Iraq, Obama tried to perpetuate the
U.S. occupation past his promised date for withdrawal, and after Iraqi
leaders wanted American troops to leave.
In Libya, Obama illegally intervened in a
civil war, sending U.S. fighter jets and missiles to kill a dictator who
posed no threat to America. The aftermath of this unauthorized war: a
coup in neighboring Mali paired with the rise of al Qaeda in that
country, and a terrorist attack in Libya ending in the death of four
Americans.
Amid real successes -- such as the mission to
kill Osama bin Laden, and ultimately ending the occupation of Iraq --
Obama's foreign policy has been riddled with failures, scandals and
mistakes. But if you watched this week's debate or follow this election
cycle's media coverage, you would assume Obama has been throwing a
perfect game around the planet.
Why does Obama get a free pass on foreign policy? There are three main reasons:
First, there's good old media bias. The major
media have given scant attention to Obama's transgressions and have
taken his word -- on all sorts of issues.
Second, there's the mysterious disappearance
of the U.S. anti-war movement. Liberals are overwhelmingly fine with
drone strikes -- 70 percent of self-described "liberal Democrats"
supported them in a February Washington Post/ABC News poll.
In 2010, when we had 80,000 troops each in
Iraq and Afghanistan, 78 percent of Democrats in one Quinnipiac poll
approved of Obama's foreign policy, and you had to look pretty hard to
find an anti-war protest. The formerly anti-war Left gave new meaning to
that Vietnam-era Phil Ochs song "I Ain't Marching Anymore."
Third, Obama gets a free pass on war matters
because the man who would naturally be his main critic -- Republican
nominee Mitt Romney -- mostly shares Obama's views.
