Alternative Insight

Who is Organizing Attacks on President Obama?


Granted that majority political Parties falter during non-president election years and that President Barack Obama has an assembly of detractors - ardent Republicans who view the president as a feared progressive and ultra-liberals who are disappointed that the president has not sufficiently assisted the lower and middle classes and continued drone attacks that also harm populations, but does Barack Obama's performance as President of the United States of America warrant descriptions such as, 'The worst president ever," Should be impeached, and the outrageous, "A commie in the White House"?

The first mentioned expression, 'The worst president ever," has become an obviously contrived chorus of invective that contradicts reality - President Obama has a proven record of being one of the more active and engaged presidents; bringing the United States from economic decline and irrational foreign entanglements to economic advancement and a more deliberate foreign policy that eschews jingoism and military chauvinism. Because the exaggerated expressions describing his time in office have no foundation, the constant rhythm of the statements must have a motive. Is a nefarious group deliberately organizing malicious attacks on President Obama?

Comparing the Barack Obama presidency with the Gorge W. Bush presidency clarifies who holds the title as the worst U.S. president and who may be responsible for the undeserved attacks on President Obama.

The 9/11 attacks on U.S. soil portended the ignorance and carelessness of the Bush administration. Known conspirators were permitted entry to the United States and then able to obtain flying lessons, which were obviously intended to learn only to leave the ground and not bother to return. Government security agencies up to the president disregarded information that would have exposed the conspiracy.

Although terrorist attacks by individuals have occurred during the Obama administration -- the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, attributed to Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist and major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, which killed 13 soldiers and civilians and wounded more than two dozen, a shooting at a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2009, which left one soldier dead and one wounded, and the 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, that killed three and injured more than 260 -- these attacks by one or two individuals did not have the scope, damage, intensity, years of international planning and ease for exposure that characterized the greatest attack on U.S. soil in modern history, the 9/11 catastrophe during Bush's watch.

Then came Afghanistan. Awakened from a lethargy that enabled the 9/11 attack, the Bush administration vigorously responded with The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which "grants the President the authority to use all necessary and appropriate force against those whom he determined planned, authorized, committed or aided the September 11th attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups."

With congressional authorization to locate those responsible for planning the 9/11 attack, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, committing U.S. taxpayers to the longest war in U.S. history, and causing about 2,200 U.S. military deaths and 20,000 wounded until October 2014. The Watson Institute of Brown University estimates that about Afghanistan 21,000 civilians died during the same period of the ongoing war.

The lack of accomplishment from the Bush administrations enormous monetary and human investment in the Afghan War is staggering. In the initial sweep to locate those responsible for the 9/11 attacks the U.S. incarcerated 779 suspects at Guantanamo, of whom only 5% were captured by U.S. troops and 86% were obtained by dubious bounty hunting. From the total, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), https://www.aclu.org/national-security/guantanamo-numbers, claims eight have been convicted, 628 have been released, and nine died in custody. Bush was unable to detain the principal suspect, Osama bin Laden or reduce the terrorist ranks, which has swelled since Bush started the war on terrorism. As of November 2014, the U.S. military incursion has not defeated the Taliban, brought a calamitous civil war to Afghanistan and extended the war into Pakistan,

The Obama administration brought a degree of sanity to this counterproductive period of U.S history by dispatching Osama bin Laden, which Bush could not, and, as promised, reducing U.S. involvement in Afghan affairs.

Despite being already occupied in a useless war in Afghanistan, Bush brought the U.S. into an incomprehensible war in Iraq; incomprehensible because the reason for the war was not, as stated, based upon faulty intelligence but based on deliberate falsehoods. The arguments that Saddam Hussein sought "yellow cake" to develop nuclear weapons and used movable trailers to develop weapons of mass destruction were ridiculous.

Even if the assumption that Hussein pursued the obtaining of "yellow cake" was real, the long time conversion of "yellow cake" into 90% enriched uranium for an atomic bomb could not be disguised and could be easily halted. Consider Iran's alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapon; If it is true that Iran is developing a bomb, the process has been taking more than a decade and the elaborate facilities for the development are well known to the world. In Hussein's Iraq, a delibitating embargo, the UN prevalence, and the ease of ground and air surveillance made it impossible for Iraq to have a covert plan for producing nuclear weapons.

More absurd was the assertion that Hussein used movable trailers to develop weapons of mass destruction. Developing weapons requites energy, water, massive electrical systems and infrastructure, which includes ducts, pipes and cables. Are these dragged around or easily attached?

The principal results of Bush's invasion of Iraq were the killing and wounding of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, displacement of several millions, sectarian conflict, destruction of much of Iraq's infrastructure, institution of a corrupt and impotent Al-Maliki government (validated by Bush) and the rise of more active terrorist organizations. George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq is directly responsible for the emergence of a high powered Al- Qaeda in Iraq. which did not exist in Iraq before the invasion, and that eventually led to ISIS expansion into the fertile crescent. Bush's war on terrorism has led to more powerful terrorist actions.

Barack Obama inherited the Iraq debacle, wound down U.S. participation, as he promised, and reacted after ISIS seized Mosul and expanded in Anbar province. The Democrat president initiated the replacement of the incompetent al-Maliki and has engaged ISIS.

By itself, the severe recession that occurred during Bush's presidency is sufficient to place Bush as one of the worst U.S. presidents.

President Obama's administration brought the U.S. out of a major recession in less time than the Roosevelt administration mitigated the Great Depression and Obama did it without an intervening recession and going into a new war - two events that occurred during the Roosevelt era. Unemployment decreased from 11% to 6%, profits and the stock market rose to records, interest rates remained low, and jobs greatly increased. Maybe not everything for everyone, including huge government deficits, but enough for defining a capable president?

Other considerations.
President Bush did not display presidential credentials
. Amateur statements, such as "Bring them on," referring to threats by Iraqis opposing the U.S. occupation, landing on an aircraft carrier and proclaiming "The Iraq war is over and we have won,' and embarrassing Russian President Putin with a patronizing statement, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country," indicated Bush's discomfort when relating to his foreign counterparts.

President Obama has been more appropriate in his statements and more professional in relations with foreign dignitaries, showing comfort, camaraderie and acceptance.

Legislation
Both presidents have their accomplishments and failures, which are subjected to political constraints and detours by Washington rivalries. However while Barack Obama commandeered the passing of the vital Affordable Care Act (ACA), George W. Bush secured no legislation of that significance. The ACA has its detractors, but a national health care act eluded previous administrations, most notably the Clinton administration. Presidents are elevated by enacting national legislation, regardless of the controversy concerning the legislation.

George W. Bush's record depicts him as one of the worst and most harmful presidents in U.S. history.
President Obama's record may not please the purists, but signifies him to be one of the more accomplished presidents.

So, why has Bush escaped severe pejoratives from the mass media and Obama been subjected to severe vilification?

One obvious policy difference between the two presidents has Bush as the friendliest president to Israel and Obama as the most critical of Israel's policies.

Admittedly, there is no "smoking gun" to demonstrate that pro-Israel media and institutions are responsible for the faulty characterization of President Obama, but pro-Israeli supporters have invaded all aspects of American society - universities, public schools, religious institutions, clubs, and media -- where they promote Israel's interests and operate subtly against opponents. All public figures, in out of government, who oppose an Israel policy have been castigated - President Carter, Professors Walt, Mearsheimer and Finkelstein, several Senators and Congressmen. Can President Obama escape a similar wrath?

It sounds conspiratorial, but seems likely, or at least deserves an investigation to answer the question -- are pro-Israel groups, in an attempt to link criticizing Israel with incompetence, responsible for the outlandish narrative that characterizes President Barack Obama as the worst U.S. president?

alternativeinsight
november, 2014

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