Obama’s
Wars

After a Bush presidency that gave the United States a reputation as the world’s bully, Americans went to the polls in 2008 and elected a leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize by promising change.

As Americans head back to the polls 4 years later, has our foreign policy really changed?

Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq barely met the deadline set by Bush.

Bush
Obama

Under President Obama the United States Military occupied Iraq 1062 days, extending a war that had already run too long by 50%.

When the last American troops left in December of 2011, it was just days before the deadline established by the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, an agreement hailed by President Bush.[1]

Extended
the war by
50%

Just 1 in 50 Pakistanis killed by drones are “high level” targets.[2]

Killing everyone we’re slightly suspicious of along with innocent bystanders is creating a new generation of resentment towards Americans.

“Obama embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties that did little to box him in. It in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants, according to several administration officials, unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.” [3]

Obama continues to display a lack of ethics in the war on terror.

Abandoning
Morality
in War

Obama has broken his promise to return America to the “moral high ground.”[4]

As a candidate, Obama promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. As president, he easily gave up on that promise.[5]

When Obama signed an executive order banning the use of torture, he left lax guidelines that offer interrogators simple loopholes.[6]

The CIA’s drone strikes, which often use a “double tap” strategy also used by terrorists, are now under investigation by the United Nations.[7]

Soldiers are still dying in Afghanistan.

In fact, Obama increased our presence in Afghanistan so much that 72% of American fatalities there have come under his watch.[8]

Obama says we will withdraw by 2014, but White House press secretary Jay Carney recently claimed that “not all U.S. troops will have withdrawn necessarily by then.”[9]

72%
American
Fatalities in
in Afghanistan

Under Obama our rights have continued to disappear in the name of “keeping us safe.”

Obama not only signed the controversial National Defense Authorization Act, but has also actively fought to keep its indefinite detention provision from being blocked.[10] Despite claims it wouldn’t apply to American citizens, this law could easily be abused to justify holding citizens in the United States without trial.

President Obama has also extended the inappropriately named Patriot Act which contains several provisions that seriously violate protections against unreasonable search & seizure and the basic right to privacy.[11]

Bill
of
Rights

Spreading
our military
too thin

President Obama has adopted a strategy of foreign intervention that circumvents congressional approval and spreads our military too thin. Our ability to defend ourselves is compromised and new enemies are made when we adopt a strategy of getting involved in the affairs of other countries.

Obama is still using our military as an aggressive force.

  • Authorized military action in Libya[12]
  • Ramped up covert war in Yemen[13]
  • Expanded drone warfare into Somalia[14]
  • Deployed troops in Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo[15]
  • Expanded Special Operations forces into 75 countries[16]

Citizens killed without trial.

It’s pretty bold to claim to be “the most transparent administration in the history of our country” when you have a top secret kill list that includes American citizens. The administration refuses to release their legal justification for assassinating our own citizens outside of the judicial system.[17]

The President even claims that the decision to kill an American cleric in Yemen was “an easy one.”[3]

 Secret
 Kill
 List

What
can I
do?

If you’re unhappy with our country’s foreign policy, here’s what you can do.

  1. This issue is more important than any party, so don’t be afraid to call out the president when he’s wrong.
  2. Send a message by casting your vote for a peace-minded candidate like Gary Johnson.
  3. If you aren’t American, please forgive our people for the actions of our politicians.
  4. Share this information with a friend.

About this site

  • This site is dedicated to the innocent victims of America’s foreign policy.
  • This site is not affiliated with or approved by any candidate or party.
  • Created by Sutherland Boswell.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement
  2. CNN: Drone strikes kill, maim and traumatize too many civilians, U.S. study says
  3. The New York Times: Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama's Principles and Will
  4. CNN: Obama signs order to close Guantanamo Bay facility
  5. PolitiFact: Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center
  6. CATO: Torture under Obama
  7. The New York Times: Drone Strikes to Be Investigated
  8. Just Foreign Policy: U.S. Deaths in Afghanistan: Obama vs Bush
  9. The Hill: Carney: No Obama plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by 2014
  10. Reason: Obama Administration Argues That Blocking the NDAA's Indefinite Detainment Provision Will Harm the U.S.
  11. ACLU: Reform the Patriot Act
  12. CBS News: Kucinich says Obama "crossed the line," calls attacks on Libya an "indisputable" impeachable offense
  13. CNN: Obama ramps up covert war in Yemen
  14. The New York Times: U.S. Expands Its Drone War Into Somalia
  15. The Huffington Post: Obama Sends Military Advisers To Central Africa To Help Fight Lord's Resistance Army
  16. The Washington Post: U.S. 'secret war' expands globally as Special Operations forces take larger role
  17. Reason: Obama's Promise of Government Transparency Is a Farce

See also