There is no commitment to America’s fighting men and women that President Barack Obama has not broken. When he ran for office in 2008, he promised to leave a residual force in Iraq to secure that country against external meddling and internal collapse. When he took office, President George W. Bush handed over a relatively stable and secure Iraq, thanks to the “surge” Obama opposed, and thanks to the sacrifices made by thousands of Americans, killed and wounded in battle.
Yet in 2011, Obama withdrew all combat troops–which is likely what he intended to do all along–and left Iraq before the job was done, allowing terrorists to regroup and sectarian rivalries to re-emerge. By pulling out troops, he also removed the only remaining strategic threat to the Iranian regime. Today, ISIS is running rampant across the region, and he and his sycophants assure the American people that they are winning the war against the “junior varsity” terrorist caliphate.
Meanwhile, the five senior Taliban leaders whom Obama freed from Guantánamo in exchange for an alleged deserter are leaving their gilded exile in Qatar and heading back to Afghanistan. There, Obama finally agreed to a “surge,” after much prevarication–but devoted far fewer troops than military leaders recommended, and foolishly declared a timeline for their withdrawal. The result: more American dead, as Obama enables the would-be terrorist regime awaiting its restoration.
On the campaign trail, the First Lady joined her husband in calling for Americans to support the troops–partly a sincere call to care for military families, partly a way to dress up anti-war sentiment in patriotic colors.
Meanwhile, the Veterans Affairs hospitals continued to mistreat our heroes–and the promised reforms and dismissals turned out to be little more than hot air.
“I don’t think we’re losing,” Obama says. That is because he has won, politically. But our troops paid the price.