President Barack Obama (R) greets troops during a visit to Camp Victory, just outside Baghdad, on April 7, 2009. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)From ABC News The Note:
We’ll get to health care in a moment, but first a reminder that for all the bold domestic initiatives, President Barack Obama is a war president. Unwelcome and uncontrollable developments on the war front have a way of overshadowing everything else. Just ask Lyndon Johnson.
We are not there yet, but consider today’s headlines:
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My Comment: When President Obama assumed office in January, he immediately assumed responsibility for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, the war on terror, the CIA war against the Taliban in Pakistan, and a host of other military/defense issues and policies.
His signature moves have been the following:
(1) A doubling of forces in Afghanistan, and an increase in the scope and operations of the war in that country.
(2) An increase in CIA drone attacks and operations in Pakistan.
(3) Giving Secretary of Defense Gates carte blanch to shift Pentagon spending from large and expensive Cold War projects to more practical tools and weapons for the soldiers who are fighting the wars now.
(4) Rapprochement with the Russians on nuclear weapon systems and discussions on missile defense.
(5) Opening the CIA to possible criminal investigations through the Attorney General's office on issues like torture and illegal detentions.
(6) The commitment to close Guantanamo Bay.
(7) Shifting the war on terror from a military/intelligence operation to a legal/law one, starting with the Guantanamo detainees that are known to have committed terrorist actions.
I have more .... but these are the substantive ones. The net effect is that President Obama will now rise or fail on what happens in the wars and conflicts that the U.S. is presently engaged in. His actions insures that these are his conflicts now .... and he is ultimately responsible for the consequences.
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