Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Obama Declares War on Terror Over
Townhall.com ^ | May 29, 2013 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 05/29/2013 8:17:35 AM PDT by Kaslin

In a hallmark speech last week, President Obama unilaterally declared the war on terror over. The end of that war, Obama stated, meant we could return to the halcyon days of the Clinton-era law enforcement, during which America experienced a spate of terrorist attacks ranging from the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 to the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996 to the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 to the USS Cole bombing in 2000.

What justified Obama's announcement?

Nothing, except his need to pacify his leftist base. With scandals brewing on the home front -- the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative non-profits, the Department of Justice targeting of journalists -- President Obama must shore up his left or face the prospect of being an early lame duck.

Meanwhile, the Benghazi scandal simmers in the background, a reminder that President Obama's Middle East policy has not quelled terror but emboldened it across the region.

And so President Obama had to spin. And spin he did. He explained that America had compromised her basic values "by using torture to interrogate our enemies and detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of law."

Mere sentences later, he claimed credit for the death of Osama Bin Laden -- a killing that would not have happened without the intelligence provided by Guantanamo Bay and extreme interrogation methods.

More importantly, Obama said, "the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11." How, exactly? According to Obama, "the threat today is more diffuse" than it was before 9/11 -- a provably false claim, considering that al-Qaida always had affiliates, allies and terrorist competitors across the globe. The threat of terrorism predated 9/11 and always went further than al-Qaida (Hezbollah, not al-Qaida, attacked Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983, and Yassar Arafat's Black September, not al-Qaida, attacked the Berlin Olympics in 1972).

But in order to justify his attempts to cut national defense funding and shut down Guantanamo Bay without a viable alternative, Obama announced that the war on terror had changed on a fundamental level.

There was another reason Obama labeled the war on terror transformed: It allows him to claim that Benghazi was a black swan attack, different in kind from attacks that preceded it, and therefore unpreventable. He termed Benghazi a "localized threat." He said it was not directed by al-Qaida (actually, it was directed by Ansar al Shariah, an al-Qaida ally in Libya). He compared it to the Boston Marathon bombings repeatedly, trying to turn it into a random case of Islamists acting alone.

Perhaps this is a mere attempt at diversion from the president. Perhaps he doesn't mean what he says. Or perhaps he's dooming America to a future of increased terrorism, state-sponsored, organized or disorganized, all to avoid scandal now.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; benghazi; obama; osamabinladen; safetyandsecurity; terrorism; wot; wotisnotover
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-49 next last
To: Kaslin

“He explained that America had compromised her basic values “by using torture to interrogate our enemies and detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of law.”

Really?

He doesn’t acknowledge that the US and allies in Iraq found mass graves and torture chambers ALL OVER THE PLACE?


21 posted on 05/29/2013 8:31:38 AM PDT by SMARTY ("The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. "Henri Frederic Amiel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ncfool

Well then when should we expect our Military to clear out of Afghanistan?


22 posted on 05/29/2013 8:33:00 AM PDT by angcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: LucianOfSamasota

Don’t be confused Lucian. The war on terror is over. The war on the Tea Party continues full speed ahead.


23 posted on 05/29/2013 8:33:11 AM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

The war on terror is over much the same way WWII was over for the French when they were defeated by Germany.


24 posted on 05/29/2013 8:35:02 AM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
So if we are attacked by a Post-Terrorism-Terrorist who did not get the message, what exactly are we supposed to do?
Yea I know, dial 911 and WAIT.

25 posted on 05/29/2013 8:35:03 AM PDT by BitWielder1 (Corporate Profits are better than Government Waste)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ncfool

We have a hard core Islammunist as President. What could go wrong?


26 posted on 05/29/2013 8:35:52 AM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: FReepers

Click The Pic To Donate

Support FR, Donate Monthly If You Can

27 posted on 05/29/2013 8:39:04 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (My faith and politics cannot be separated)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Enterprise

Let’s see if the faux press has the same problem with this as they did with Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” moment.


28 posted on 05/29/2013 8:39:54 AM PDT by Phillyred
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Obama and McCain have just had an entire village
of Christians in Syria slaughtered, no doubt with the girls sold in Lebanon, WITH American funds and weapons
supporting ... al Qaeda (they who attacked
America in the forgotten 911 Atrocities).


29 posted on 05/29/2013 8:41:27 AM PDT by Diogenesis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Phillyred
That's GOOD!!!!!

The War on Terror is Over = Mission Accomplished

30 posted on 05/29/2013 8:42:19 AM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
So, I guess all of the military personnel in the Horn of Africa (and the interior) can come home now?

5.56mm

31 posted on 05/29/2013 8:44:21 AM PDT by M Kehoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Enterprise
Jihad has been ongoing for ~1400 yr.

The Muzzie Bro (CAIR et.al.)and Al Qaeda have been fanning the (previously) smouldering flames for the last ~90 years.

They are currently winning in the West. We are being dhimmini by not fighting back

32 posted on 05/29/2013 8:44:41 AM PDT by Paladin2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

we lost


33 posted on 05/29/2013 8:47:33 AM PDT by NonValueAdded (Unindicted Co-conspirators: The Mainstream Media)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

if he believes this, and i think he does, why do we still have the black-booted tsa thugs and why isn’t the department of people control, aka homeland secutity disbanded and all the ammo released to the public? according to obambi the threat is gone.


34 posted on 05/29/2013 8:50:24 AM PDT by bravo whiskey (We should not fear our government. Our government shoud fear us.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I hope the first time some Muzzie decides to behead a U.S. soldier he is gunned down in the streets and left to die. Obama will do nothing. It’s up to us....and he is trying to get our guns and prevent just that.


35 posted on 05/29/2013 8:50:38 AM PDT by tioga
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tioga

OK, sounds extreme, but what they did in London was SICK.


36 posted on 05/29/2013 8:51:03 AM PDT by tioga
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

So this means he is going to get rid of the TSA?


37 posted on 05/29/2013 8:54:46 AM PDT by Lady Jag (If you can't make them see the light, let them feel the heat. - Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Translation - “I’ve changed sides, so the war is now on Americans. Especially those conservative ones that cling to their guns and bibles...”


38 posted on 05/29/2013 8:55:42 AM PDT by meyer (When people fear the government, you have Tyranny)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

It woud make a lot more sense for our beloved leader to give this announcement in the mountains of Pakistan? I’d pay money to see it.


39 posted on 05/29/2013 9:00:04 AM PDT by ryan71 (The Second American Revolution)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Ye gods....what are you all complaining about? He lies about everything and you’re going to get all worked up over this one? It’s not like him or any other politician is ever going to end one of the several wars on the abstract.Your wars on terror, drugs, iilliteracy and poverty aren’t going anywhere and will still be there every year costing the taxpayers more and all achieving the exact opposite promised results.


40 posted on 05/29/2013 9:09:27 AM PDT by Orangedog (An optimist is someone who tells you to 'cheer up' when things are going his way)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-49 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson