The George W. Obama Administration’s Foreign Policy
The story is the same with Afghanistan. President Obama is implementing a strategy based on the successful “surge” in Iraq launched belatedly by his predecessor. The only difference is that Obama established a date for when some sort of reduction must occur, but as I’ve pointed out, this was likely a requirement in order to win the support of Congress and the public at large, and if Bush somehow had a third term, he may well have had to make a similar concession. And if he didn’t, it is quite possible that a reduction of some kind would have come around that time regardless, because of improving conditions and political reasons.
The similarities also apply to other war on terror issues. The closing down of Guantanamo Bay has been delayed until at least 2011 and critics seem to forget that the Bush administration also shared this goal, although it never made the mistake of setting a date that ultimately had to be discarded. The Obama administration has not abandoned the practice of indefinitely detaining enemy combatants either, saying that sometimes those held will not be able to be prosecuted but cannot be released either, drawing the ire of Rachel Maddow. It has even reformed but continued the practice of using military tribunals instead of civilian courts to try certain detainees.
On wiretaps, the Justice Department has taken the side of its predecessor, resulting in vicious criticism from Keith Olbermann. President Obama has issued executive orders that preserve the CIA’s authority to continue renditions, where terrorist suspects are snatched by agency operatives and held in secret prisons run by us or other countries, and officials say such actions may even increase.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t any major differences at all, but they are limited to domestic policy. Even there, though, similarities can be drawn in the growth of the size of government, deficit spending, and support for expanding faith-based initiatives.
George Friedman of the Stratfor intelligence group wrote in February 2008 that “policies have institutionalized themselves over the decades, and shifting those policies has costs that presidents can’t absorb. … Presidents do not simply make policy. Rather, they align themselves with existing reality.” In August, he wrote about these similarities, saying that constraints on presidents limit how much policies change despite the rhetoric of their political campaigns.
There are differences in rhetoric and packaging, and some reforms were implemented as to how things are done, but what is actually being done has remained.
Little ‘o’ ran on hubris and over-the-top promise making, that’s why.
Wars take strategy.
Defense takes strategy.
Choosing the right people for the job takes strategy.
Little ‘o’ the community-organizing campaigner is no strategist.
And of course in ‘Ryan Mauro’ ‘cloud cuckoo land’ Bush also apologised for America at every opportunity he could and licked Mohammedan ass and undermined Israel and tried to get pally pally with the Iranians and BOWED DOWN to the sordid King of Saudi and the Japanese Emperor too and was pally pally with all the South American left wing dictators like Chavez and Castro while at the same time ignoring, insulting and denigrating America’s Western Allies France, Germany and the UK. Bush did of course he did didn’t he Ryan well in YOUR DREAMS he did anyway.
P.S. The ‘OBUSH’ morph picture is freaking me the frick out.
It’s bad enough that we have to deal with this horrifying person. Who on earth is thinking it’s a worthwhile idea to drag President George W. Bush’s likeness in by creating the morph photo? Sickening. Whoever it is, I’m expecting they’ll soon be producing a Billy Graham/Hitler morph.
Obamas official security policy is pure posturing. No one is using Special Forces to kill terrorist more aggressively than Obama. No due process here and no hesitation. 200 SF in Yemen hopping and popping, shooting and looting, head shots for Somalian pirates, predator drones bombing left and right in Pakistan. It’s quite different from Jimmy Carter with whom Obama is frequently compared. Carter asked Charlie Beckwith to shoot the Iranian hostage takers in the shoulders. Not so with Obama. What Obama says in public has little resemblance to what’s happening on the ground. As an ironic twist, it looks like the Bush bashing Obama is embracing Neo conservative principles and is taking preemptive warfare to new heights. If only the left had brains to now what’s really happening in the world, they would be quite surprised. But maybe they are in fact OK with it, just as long it’s a socialist doing the killing. Personally I don’t care, as long the terrorists get dead one way or the other.
Ummm, if Obama ever invades a country on made-up evidence, or stops paying attention to the people who are actually threaten us, then and only then you might have the beginning of a point.
Priceless.
The difference is night and day. Bush’s first instinct was what will enhance my nation’s security . Obama’s first instinct is how far can I go in promoting my left wing agenda (which includes perpetual attacks on Bush) without risking an attack that will hurt me.
Bush would never have conceded Iraq to al Qaeda or announced he was closing Gitmo with no idea what to do with the terrorists detained there nor would he have given KSM a civil trial in New York or anywhere within the United States for purely partisan political purposes (trying to embarrass Bush by showing how much more “civilized” he is than Bush).
No Obama hasn’t caved on Afghanistan. He tried. After 3 months of “deliberation” he concluded that politically he had no choice, given that he had called it the good war throughout.
The transparency of Obama continues to elude Ryan Mauro.
1. Delia:
Ditto.
The photo is great! Those of us who fancy themselves to be libertarians and read Ron Paul, Von Mises, Rothbard and Lew Rockwell are quite used to thinking about the fact that republicans and democrats have more common ground than differences.
The greatest policy failures of Bush and the republicans, fiscal irresponsbility and pointless and interminable undeclared foreign wars, are continued by Obama. Republicans, democrats, and the mainstream media all share an interest in pretending Bush and Obama have followed completely different tasks, but for the most part it is a matter of degree.
In this household the verdict on the photo was as instantaneous as it was unanimous:
This person looks human (even quite pleasant)for a change.
JL: #5
This is the first I’ve heard about this — aggressive SF in Yemen. What’s your source. If it’s true, the MSM must not know about it, or they would be outraged. Also, President Teleprompter must not be interested, and turned it entirely over to the military. If he cared, he would stop it.
Sorry Ryan, but I’m not buying this comparison. In reality there wasn’t much that Obambi could have done that was so much different from President Bush. But you knew, the people knew and still know, that George Bush was unashamed of and proud to be an American. He wore his patriotism on his sleeve, as did the always gracious and genteel Laura. Obambi hates America, our customs, our laws, our constitution, our military and our people. And don’t get me started on Shelly who just seems to drip revulsion about the whole concept of America and is particularly nauseated about actually being an American. This comparison falls apart on that.
The conflict with the Islamic folks (both overt terrorists, state and non-state actors and the domesticated, those seeking our dhimmitude who live among us) will outlast the present US administration and probably the lives of most of our children. Therefore, only the rhetoric and tactics will change. What needs to be done — the fight — will not. Either they or us will win. There is no compromise.
JR: #12
It’s been in the news. Here’s three links.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/28/pentagon-send-special-forces-yemen/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/middleeast/16yemen.html?scp=4&sq=yemen&st=cse
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/27/clinton.yemen.talks/index.html?iref=allsearch
The Fox News/Wall Street Journal article has the most details. You have to read down in the CNN article to find a mention of it.
Both the CNN and NYTimes articles downplay the special forces role, and seem to indicate they only provided intel and logistics.
Two more links in support of my article:
Obama Administration has actually increased spending to maintain our nuclear weapons stockpile: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1247049/Nobel-Peace-Prize-winner-Barack-Obama-ups-spending-nuclear-weapons-George-Bush.html
The Obama Administration has decided to indefinitely hold nearly 50 Gitmo detainees and says that Congress “implicitly” gave the President the power to do so in 2001:
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/01/26/obama-pwns-the-left-on-guantanamao/
The differences between Bush values and beliefs and the poser currently occupying the white house are vast and need not be pointed out. The real issue here is the 8 years of traitorous politically motivated slander, misinformation, and downright manipulation that the poser and his party in concert with the media created for political gain during a time of war. This is the story. Have you forgotten the look on the poser’s face after the briefing he received after taking office? Even the liberal MSM took notice of the shock and stunned look. He recieved a good dose of reality. This is why he is following Bush policy actions on the War on Terror but continuing to spout his anti-Bush, man made disaster rhetoric.
Why did you leave out one of the most intractable problems for diplomacy–the interminable conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians supported by some Arab nations.
In that conflict, the Obama administration has seen fit to embarass our ally, the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and to press the Israelis for unilateral concessions to the Palestinians.
This is such a departure from the policies of decades of amicable relations between the U.S. and Israel and out staunch support of the only working democracy in the Mid East that I can’t understand how you avoided comment.
Obama has no strategy to help america…he’s out to destroy white america..it’s an “i’ll show you” attitude…or i’ll stomp my narrow little feet and hold my breath!!!!
face it…he’s just not that into our country and I’m sick of his blaming bush. he needs to man up for once in his life.
#12
I can see, Arnold beat me to the curb here. But here’s another link.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/26/report-secret-joint-operations-yemen/
When we are talking covert operations, nobody is gonna draw you a picture. You have to pay attention. President teleprompter is quite a nasty fella. Which in this case is a good thing. And the left/MSM is not gonna complain about it, because he’s one of their own.
You should read section 503a and 504c of this document:
http://intelligence.senate.gov/nsaact1947.pdf
When SF operations ends up in the news it’s usually because they didn’t have the time/opportunity to get presidential or DNI approval to make it covert. But they will use language that make it sound softer like: “Conducting operations along side Yemeni troops” etc. It’s not covert, but they don’t say enough to draw any undue attention. The word “operations” means killing. If there is no killing involved they call it “training”, “exercises”, “advising”, “intelligence gathering” etc.
Obama’s foreign policy:also KNOWN AS THE FOUR As:Apologize,Appease,Abase America,and have George Soros hire libtard a@#holes like BC(Beyond Crertinism )to defend it.
POSUS Barack Obama is NOTHING like George W. Bush.
What a dumb-ass thing to say.
Simon Templar is right. After all the Bush bashing, Obama’s adoption of some of his policies while keeping his own rhetoric has left the world dumbfounded. They don’t know who he is or what he will really stand up for. No one trusts him. The latest Gitmo revision is that it will be closed by the end of his term. That’s not what he said to great fanfare a year ago. He is exposing himself as all talk. The only reason the Afghanistan policy is reasonable is because he inherited some competent people from George Bush and when they briefed him it scared him to death. He has no core, so we can’t know how he will react.
Once you get over the initial shock of that picture and really look again there is something in that pic that’s missing in Obama’s real face. Look into the eyes. Bush’s eye’s have warmth, a soul. Now go look at Obama’s eyes, there is no warmth or soul. What a window.
we’ve had sf people in the horn since 03, because it ain’t in the news doesn’t mean it ain’t happening.ok since the bombings in africa, maybe earlier. i knew the big O was going to co-opt the good things and blame GWB for all the bad things. he’s the co-opter in chief
Nice try Ryan, but many here have drunk deeply of the koolaid and “know” that Obama is the devil. You can’t fool them and please, please don’t confuse the issue with facts.
#26 Obama,the devil? No Dwight, Obama,s not the devil;he’s just a golfer! Siily Libtard! (He’s also George Soros’ sock puppet).BTW: Kool AID’s a lot better than drinking the contents of the Obama White House’ sewers Also known as the DNC Think tank),You and MAURON should give it a try.
Both W and Fecesface work for the Rothschilds and so do their bidding. What they have in common is their part in the satanic conspiracy of their new World Order, by whatever name. They laugh at mankind now as they maneuver this way and that to destroy us, but they will have other concerns when they find themselves eternally screaming for mercy in the Lake of Fire.
Ryan,
It’s odd how your comparison draws such mean spirited remarks from some folks (I imagine some posters here very much like McCain,Palin, Romney, Beck, Hannity et al of the Faux News crowd).
The trouble is that we’re trained like robots how to think and feel in this country by television programming. It literally is PROGRAMMING us to behave in one of two ways. This perpetuates the Left vs. Right paradigm.
Most people are stuck in this and don’t know why they feel the way they do. They just know they hate Republicans or Democrats. They call each other names and continue the feud without looking at issues sans emotion.
Ryan your article does hit on the fact that Obama isn’t really all that different than Bush. The differences are in rhetoric as you have said and perhaps inconsequential side issues.
But if we look at what policies have been perpetuated from admnistration to administration we see many major likenesses.
1. Continued war. Obama has taken “combat troops” out but left “peace keeping troops” there – that’s not a real withdrawl – has increased the war in Afghanistan/Pakistan/Yemen. He is beating the war drums and rallying the country around the flag against Iran.
2. Continued the increase in government size, scope and spending. This is no different than any president before him including the much maligned Bush Jr. Congress still spends far beyond it’s limit and is setting records for deficit spending only beat by the previous whitehouse admin and congress (give Obama a few more years and we’ll see the same record setting deficit spending just like W).
3. Support of Banks, Wall Street and Crony Capitalism.
4. Continued support of a corrupt Federal Reserve system designed to benefit banksters, large corps on wall street and insiders privileged with knowing the right people.
5. Support of the Patriot Act and the crushing blows it has dealt to the Bill of Rights.
6. Continued secrecy regarding copyright meetings and other things he said he’d bring transparency to but won’t now that he’s in office.
This list goes on and on.
To all the posters here that have a knee jerk reaction to the comparison between these presidents I challenge you to take a step back. Leave your emotions at the door. Then find some articles like this that list out more explicitly the similarities between the two admins (as well as admins before them).
Just look at the facts, policies, their outcomes and trends.
Then think about how our country is stuck in the Left vs. Right Paradigm – how does this fighting benefit our citizens? How does any of it do anything good?
Blue vs Red
Republican vs Democrat
Liberal vs Conservative
etc
Ask yourself:
Why has the federal govt grown and grown over the years instead of shrunk?
Why do we spend more $ on national defense than the next 30 industrialized nations combined?
Why do banks get bailed out when normal every day businesses are allowed to fail? (who controls that money and where did they work before? )
Please consider something outside the mainstream Left vs. Right bickering. Staying in that mindset will only keep you caught in the trap.
rant over.