Obama sets a new record for continuous warfare

[pudly]

President Obama has just achieved a sad milestone with eight months remaining in office of being the president with the longest time presiding over wars.

• Came into office promising to end the wars engaged in under George Bush.
• Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for ???
• Given the way things are currently are going, it is likely that the country will be at war for his entire presidency.

NY Times: For Obama, an Unexpected Legacy of Two Full Terms at War

 

[HubertGummer]

Yep...If he were a republican there would be way more criticism from the media

 

[cobber]

I seem to remember a campaign promise that all the troops would be home by 2014. Oopsie.


For the commenters at the NYT, it's Bush's fault, and Barry really wanted to do something about it, but was locked in.
Well, maybe he really wasn't up to the job of commander-in-chief?

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Yeah...wars...they're a big problem...tough to solve, huh?

After 8 years, if the party tables were reversed, do you think anyone - ANYONE - would be saying it was the previous president's fault?

 

[churchmouse]

Yeah...wars...they're a big problem...tough to solve, huh?

After 8 years, if the party tables were reversed, do you think anyone - ANYONE - would be saying it was the previous president's fault?

Have to agree here.

 

[Spear Dane]

Why don't we lay the blame properly rather than engaging in a partisan crapfest: Al Qaeda, The Taliban, Boko Haram and Daesh?

 

[Que]

He failed on this matter and there is no getting around it. It's no anybody's fault but his.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Slightly before my time, perhaps some of our seasoned members could refresh my memory...Vietnam...

Dwight Eisenhower didn't start the war but certainly was involved early on - Southeast Asia Treaty Organization...

John F. Kennedy was engaged on record wanting to overthrow Prime Minister Ngo Sinh Diem, but he died too early...

Lyndon Johnson actually sent troops...no end under his presidency...

Richard Nixon saw the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, but alas there was no end of the fighting under him...

finally, under Gerald Ford there was an end, but what did he actually do to end it? Nothing really...


Help me, was there any previous presidency blaming by any of these guys?

 

[cobber]

Slightly before my time, perhaps some of our seasoned members could refresh my memory...Vietnam...

Dwight Eisenhower didn't start the war but certainly was involved early on - Southeast Asia Treaty Organization...

John F. Kennedy was engaged on record wanting to overthrow Prime Minister Ngo Sinh Diem, but he died too early...

Lyndon Johnson actually sent troops...no end under his presidency...

Richard Nixon saw the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, but alas there was no end of the fighting under him...

finally, under Gerald Ford there was an end, but what did he actually do to end it? Nothing really...


Help me, was there any previous presidency blaming by any of these guys?

Not really. It was pretty much all Nixon's fault...

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Not really. It was pretty much all Nixon's fault...

A case could have been made by Johnson that it was started by Ike...

Nixon could have made the case Johnson sent troops and actually started it all...

Ford could have thumped his chest and said Republicans ended what Democrats started...

Any of that happen?

 

[Lowe0]

So wait, is he waging permanent war on the Muslims, or secretly sympathizing with them? I forgot my anything-Obama-does secret decoder ring.

 

[pudly]

A case could have been made by Johnson that it was started by Ike...

Nixon could have made the case Johnson sent troops and actually started it all...

Ford could have thumped his chest and said Republicans ended what Democrats started...

Any of that happen?

I only remember back to the Nixon administration, but no I don't recall anything like that. The Vietnam war was something Nixon was man enough to deal with on his own and not spend years blaming other administrations. The world is not handed to any president with a booming economy and worldwide peace and tranquility. They all deal with the existing situation, possibly criticizing the previous administration, but not blaming them for ongoing problems into their second terms. That phenomenon is unique to Obama.

 

[churchmouse]

I only remember back to the Nixon administration, but no I don't recall anything like that. The Vietnam war was something Nixon was man enough to deal with on his own and not spend years blaming other administrations. The world is not handed to any president with a booming economy and worldwide peace and tranquility. They all deal with the existing situation, possibly criticizing the previous administration, but not blaming them for ongoing problems into their second terms. That phenomenon is unique to Obama.

Did the Clintons actually start the use of the "Blame" thrower.......to cover their tracks and divert attention.

I do not remember a lot or really any finger pointing from Ike through Nixon. Just was not what "Men" did then.

 

[pudly]

So wait, is he waging permanent war on the Muslims, or secretly sympathizing with them? I forgot my anything-Obama-does secret decoder ring.

He's doing both of course. Iran, the Palestinians, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Muslims being imported into the EU & US- sympathizing and supporting. Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, etc- permanent war. There is hardly a secular Muslim government that he hasn't bombed in the Middle East. It is primarily the theocratic, apocalyptic ones that he's supported.

 

[Jludo]

So wait, is he waging permanent war on the Muslims, or secretly sympathizing with them? I forgot my anything-Obama-does secret decoder ring.

It is funny that Obama is doing both too much and not enough at the same time.
Bush failed us getting us involved in these cluter****s.
Obama failed us in getting us out. If anything Obama dug the hole deeper. It's just proof that the parties are one in the same when it comes down to it. Partisan bickering is for the plebs and we seem to eat it up. The entrenched bureaucrats at the top of the hierarchy stay and advise whoever is in power.

 

[Que]

You have to give credit where credit is due and as most would agree, the buck stops at the President's foot. We shouldn't look at extenuating circumstances, because leaders should be willing to take the hit, whether leading a household or a country.

 

[pudly]

You have to give credit where credit is due and as most would agree, the buck stops at the President's foot. We shouldn't look at extenuating circumstances, because leaders should be willing to take the hit, whether leading a household or a country.

Dang Que. You are on a roll. I can't rep you a second time in this thread.

Unfortunately, "acting presidential" is out of favor.

 

[actaeon277]

Unfortunately, "acting presidential" is out of favor.

I don't foresee it getting any better in the next 4 years.

 

[cobber]

As I recall, the feckless erm fearless leader invited us to unappoint him in 2012 if he didn't carry through on his 2012 promises.

The American people have very low expectations of their leaders. Except poor RMN, for all the compromising he did with the Dems, they still hounded him from office.

If you think the political culture is s*cky now, think back to the late 60s and 70s. Echoes of the present.

 

[PaulF]

Obama doesn't get a pass here.

Bush doesn't, either.

Bush started two wars without any long-term plan for ending them. The wars de-stabilized an already turbulent region, and Bush did not have the political capital or savvy necessary to deal with the mess he created. By toppling Saddam he created a vacuum of power that he was unable to adequately fill, and the results became a quagmire.

Obama ran on ending the wars, but that wasn't the correct course of action...it only expanded the vacuum. Nature loathes a vacuum, and it must be filled...so we got ISIS.

The wars were fools ventures. Bush never had a plan in place to deal with the chaos he was bound to create. A great deal of the "blame" rightfully belongs at his feet.

The wars are Bush's mess...but he left it for others to clean up. The guy we hired to do the cleaning had no better plan. The current mess doesn't "belong" to Obama...it belongs to all Americans...blame us. We shouldn't have let Bush make this mess, and we certainly shouldn't have hired Obama to clean it up.