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Obama defends his drone strikes in new book
- Thread starter Poetic Injustice
- Start date
A lot of people stood it up to it as it was happening.
This was 1 month into the administration:
Call Off Drone War, Influential U.S. Adviser Says
For months, Pakistani leaders have complained, loudly, about American drone strikes on their territory. Now, an influential adviser to American policymakers is raising his voice against the unmanned attacks, too. "If we want to strengthen our friends and weaken our enemies in Pakistan, bombing...
It was all ignored, and Obama had a great opportunity to buck the trend of using drones to further American hegemony.
But just like with Bush before him, he ignored solid advice and powered through a lot of horrific stuff, and then lied to cover it all up so that he could keep doing it while messing up the heads of those asked to do all of this murder.
Former Drone Pilots Denounce 'Morally Outrageous' Program
Former Air Force airmen are speaking out against America’s drone war, calling the military drone program “morally outrageous” and “one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”
www.nbcnews.com
Obama and his admin were not helpless things just following the inertia of American bloodlust. They dove right in and spearheaded it, covered up as much as they could, obfuscated as much as they could, and justified it as much as they could. At a certain point there needs to be a reckoning for all of this lying and murder that isn't abstracted away as just something America does and that's that, no further reflection.
To murder innocent people or to not murder innocent people.
Yes, a very difficult decision,
I'd preffer the "burden" of being the most powerful human being on Earth over being the target of one his drones, personally.
not taking joy in killing civilians is an extremely low bar.
I can't believe there was once a time where I actually liked this asshole.
I can't believe there was once a time where I actually liked this asshole.
Yeah.
I mean, here's the thing. He's selling it as if he wasn't culpable.
But to a certain extent hurting black and brown people internationally (and locally...that was important to our forefathers) is part of what we do.
If we didn't have dead white soldier fatigue after the Iraq war Trump/Barton could have sold a Desert Storm type operation where it's just unrelenting missile and drone strikes.
He's not wrong that stopping our murder machine would have been the end of his presidency. I mean, it would have been nice of him to like, lol, try and maybe not ramp it up to the tenth degree. But there's a dark truth there
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A lot of people stood it up to it as it was happening.
This was 1 month into the administration:
Call Off Drone War, Influential U.S. Adviser Says
For months, Pakistani leaders have complained, loudly, about American drone strikes on their territory. Now, an influential adviser to American policymakers is raising his voice against the unmanned attacks, too. "If we want to strengthen our friends and weaken our enemies in Pakistan, bombing...www.wired.com
It was all ignored, and Obama had a great opportunity to buck the trend of using drones to further American hegemony.
But just like with Bush before him, he ignored solid advice and powered through a lot of horrific stuff, and then lied to cover it all up so that he could keep doing it while messing up the heads of those asked to do all of this murder.
Former Drone Pilots Denounce 'Morally Outrageous' Program
Former Air Force airmen are speaking out against America’s drone war, calling the military drone program “morally outrageous” and “one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”
Obama and his admin were not helpless things just following the inertia of American bloodlust. They dove right in and spearheaded it, covered up as much as they could, obfuscated as much as they could, and justified it as much as they could. At a certain point there needs to be a reckoning for all of this lying and murder that isn't abstracted away as just something America does and that's that, no further reflection.
If I wasn't clear enough, I meant that a president would have to be the one to stand up to it.
His whole "they were dangerous young men, wish I could've given them education and opportunity but instead I had to kill them" line is exactly what cops say to justify their killing of black men in cities all over this country.
This man is such a deplorable, cynical creature.
Those lives are not meant to be an afterthought in his third vapid book venture, so he can line his pockets. They were children with a whole future ahead of them.
Not only did he do this. He's also ushered in austerity for millions, by letting vultures bleed the people of Puerto Rico dry.
If hell exists, he's gonna be extra crispy.
Those lives are not meant to be an afterthought in his third vapid book venture, so he can line his pockets. They were children with a whole future ahead of them.
Not only did he do this. He's also ushered in austerity for millions, by letting vultures bleed the people of Puerto Rico dry.
If hell exists, he's gonna be extra crispy.
Why was Obama?
Him trying to punt the ball to Rahm Emanuel in this book, because he KNOWS Rahm is persona-non-grata in progressive and even some liberal circles now, is the most cynical and cowardly shit. Don't fall for it.
Like I'm sure Rahm was drooling at the idea of killing brown children with drones but he wasn't the one ordering the strikes or crafting the policy. That's on Obama.
there's a reason why black lives matter started under his tenure as president
Charisma and American presidents in combination always seems to result in widespread death and suffering.
edit: then again when was the last time America didn't regularly bomb another nation?
edit: then again when was the last time America didn't regularly bomb another nation?
This is probably it, other countries' leaders would have been called war criminals and be on trial as such. But the US is too mighty and too influential that any American would go to The Hague.
Obama Killed a 16-Year-Old American in Yemen. Trump Just Killed His 8-Year-Old Sister.
The war on terror framework continues to savage the world’s poorest civilians.
theintercept.com
Nah...
It's the same type of bigoted shit white people say about black men. It's gross.
In the end, Obama is another tone deaf elitist who can't read a room to save his life. The semantics at play over "combatants" is terrifying and depressing. If you were in the path of view of any of these drones, you were a fucking enemy combatant and something to be destroyed. It just reinforces how little we see people from the middle east as people - good people, sick people, elderly, children - all killed in an effort to pander to the right.
Then maybe Obama should have fired the guy who's obsessed with a kill list and acted like the liberal president people voted for, instead of trying to appease Republicans.
Preemptively compromising every stance so conservatives won't call you weak/wasteful/an swj snowflake is probably one of the biggest problems of the leftwing establishment everywhere
Obama might have been one of the better presidents for the US civilians but that doesn't mean everyone else had the same feeling.
He is a war criminal pure and simple. No amount of defense can change that.
He is a war criminal pure and simple. No amount of defense can change that.
All things considered, I'd argue Obama's only above average actions as a President were actions taken to get the Affordable Care Act enacted. Beyond that, he was fairly average or downright bad (e.g., drone strikes).
Yep. "The buck stops here" would have applied to Obama if he had called to stop this. He let it slide at the very least if not encouraged it at the worst. Either way, the outcome is the same.
Chomsky has a famous saying about US Presidents and war criminals. I think almost every President has been one, including the vaunted Lincoln.
The Constitution grants the Presidency Commander and Chief and Foreign Policy powers which always seem to be exercised in violent ways.
The Constitution grants the Presidency Commander and Chief and Foreign Policy powers which always seem to be exercised in violent ways.
If Obama were a wrestler, "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" would be his fucking entrance music.
These strikes were primarily civilian casualties, with the occasional "combatant" thrown in.
No one should have so much power to make such a decision in the first place.
When you're at the head of a blood thirsty country fueled by hate, violence, and fear, even a saint will have to kill due to the will of the mass.
As long as the US has a culture of violence, every president will be a murderer.
He's not telling the whole truth about this. The kind of disgusting moral calls most have to make to become president, and the political calculations you have to make to remain one , effectively trading lives for re-election votes, are not something most of the public would publicly admit they approve of. I have no doubt he did this. Based on the comments on Rahm's "obsession".
ways lives get traded for votes include things like drone strikes and war but also ignoring COVID or ignoring lung or brain poisoning pollution, etc. There are tons of ways to indirectly murder people.
We can all agree that Obama was no saint but how does he compare to the average US president in your opinion? Someone like Clinton, Carter or Bush the first.
ways lives get traded for votes include things like drone strikes and war but also ignoring COVID or ignoring lung or brain poisoning pollution, etc. There are tons of ways to indirectly murder people.
We can all agree that Obama was no saint but how does he compare to the average US president in your opinion? Someone like Clinton, Carter or Bush the first.
Even that is debatable due his actions towards the citizens of Puerto Rico, the beginning of Black Lives Matter, and his actions in Flint.
It's one thing to argue that being president means you inherit the imperialism, and that's unavoidable.
But how do you justify the mockery of drinking a sip of Flint water to discount the lived experience of thousands of kids drinking contaminated water?
Pick your dream choice tor President and they will all have to face similar situations and choices, with zero chance they step away from the job with their hands clean.
I hate that he did what he did and I hate that it happened, I cant excuse the behavior but I dont think much can be done about it regarding the most powerful army in the world.
I hate that he did what he did and I hate that it happened, I cant excuse the behavior but I dont think much can be done about it regarding the most powerful army in the world.
Him blaming it on Rahm is nonsense. He's the president. He can just say no we aren't drone striking people and its done. This is nothing more than a deflection from Obama.
This is the mindset that keeps the status quo, it also fed his aggressive deportations. It's cowardly bullshit because just like any name the GoP wants to call you, trying to counter it is a complete waste of time and so much worse if to counter the label you are killing innocents. If they were calling Biden a socialist when he is practically a Conservative, then you pretty much have to expect a label regardless of your actions so it's best to just do the right fucking thing.
It's also some "White Man Burden" American imperialism bullshit of a framing
Obama parallel in these days would be dumping the kids on the rocks painting a giant target sign on their heads for the drones to bomb later.
It's such a feeble excuse too, cause it doesn't explain their actions taken after being confronted with gross human rights violations and the coverups involved.
There's so many stories, but 1 in particular that is horrible is this account:
Being Not So Malala
“I was in the field with my grandmother, sister and brother, passionately gathering okra. It was a nice sunny day with little breeze. There was some air of joy with Eid just a day away. It was all …
atiq8a.wordpress.com
Like if Obama wants to make excuses and sidestep responsibilities in a mass murder campaign, then ok. But the coverup and treatment of the victims after the fact, and complete disregard for their lives and well-being after ruining them, is what really puts this all over the top.
Good companion piece:
Obama's Memoir Glosses Over His Horrific Drone War
The former president's 768-page memoir hardly mentions the drone program, which killed hundreds of civilians, and when it does it's pretty gross.www.vice.com
Psychopath shit.
3 days after his inauguration, and he was already vaporizing innocents and covering it up/denying it happened. So the whole "woe is them and me, nevertheless" routine is bordering nonsense talk.
We all need to push back more against this killing and lying being done in our name. None of this bullshit is fixing the material conditions of the people here and definitely not out there, and it's long past time Americans recognized that.
Trying to walk around proving you have a big dick and a big gun to fascist Repubs who are going to spurn you anyways is NOT what should drive foreign policy. But Obama is just literally admitting it here, and it's the most pathetic and feeble sidestepping I've heard from a killer in awhile.
This is pointless grammar discussion but isn't it "strong suit" and not "strong suite"
That's a pretty common error in the book then?
Despicable.
You would think a black man, an educated black man, aware of the injustice people of color have faced, continue to face at the hands of white imperialists would realize the horrible injustice of this program.
But I guess being wealthy overrides all that. I bet we all look like ants to the wealthy from up there.
I mean what's a few hundred brown children when I have to think about my image!
You would think a black man, an educated black man, aware of the injustice people of color have faced, continue to face at the hands of white imperialists would realize the horrible injustice of this program.
But I guess being wealthy overrides all that. I bet we all look like ants to the wealthy from up there.
I mean what's a few hundred brown children when I have to think about my image!
It is the usual immoral and monstrous business of American empire. But with Obama, it stands out particularly because of his image representing the hope of a fundamental change in the American character and trajectory.
And in hindsight, his attempt to look "tough" and his insecurity over image as a liberal president (which itself says a lot about what he really thinks of the American character) seems so pointless. The dark side of America was already bubbling up to shove fascism into power in response to white rage at a black man being president. Republicans had already committed to burning the country down to stop liberals from accomplishing anything.
And in hindsight, his attempt to look "tough" and his insecurity over image as a liberal president (which itself says a lot about what he really thinks of the American character) seems so pointless. The dark side of America was already bubbling up to shove fascism into power in response to white rage at a black man being president. Republicans had already committed to burning the country down to stop liberals from accomplishing anything.
this memoir has just been elaborating on what we all already knew
despicable doesn't even begin to cover it
despicable doesn't even begin to cover it
It's almost like the office of the US. Presidency is fucking corrupt at it's very core no matter who sits in there and serve only as another arm of the beast that is capitalism to ravage the world for self interests...
You cant be a US president and also be a good person. Its a political impossibility. Emmanuel is a giant sack of shit, but in this case he's horrifically right- you dont get to plug away at your liberal agenda for 8 years if you arent dropping bombs on brown people. That's the reality of the world be live in. How the fuck do we change it?