First the one he got right – although I really should say the one he FINALLY got right. And that’s to leave SOME U.S. troops in Afghanistan, so we don’t see a repeat of Obama’s disastrous pullout in Iraq.
Let’s review. Candidate Barack Obama had essentially made a campaign promise that he’d pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan before he leaves office (in one year, two months, 29 days, and 15 minutes, in case you’re counting, like I am.) He did just that in Iraq, against the advice of virtually every foreign policy expert and military advisor. The collapse in Iraq directly resulted in a far more powerful Iran; instability in the region, especially in Syria; and most significantly and dangerously, in the rise of ISIS, with the accompanying rape, crucifixion, and beheadings of Christians and moderate Muslims.
Despite this horrific result in Iraq, Obama had insisted that he would go ahead with the pullout of all troops in Afghanistan – until last week. Now he’s saying he’ll leave between 5,500 and 9,800 troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office on January 20th, 2017. Why the change?
Here’s what I think. It’s all about politics. If he had gone ahead with his irresponsible pullout of all troops, and the Taliban runs amuck in Afghanistan, just as ISIS did in Iraq after the pullout there, the chaos would put the Democrat presidential candidate at great risk next year. And Obama very much wants to see a Democrat follow him into the White House. Otherwise his legacy issues: Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, a liberal-trending Supreme Court, buddying up to traditional U.S. enemies like Iran and Cuba, dissing our traditional allies like Great Britain, Canada, and Israel, are all at risk. So Obama reversed himself, and troops will stay in Afghanistan after all.
Now for the second topic this week – the thing that Obama got terribly wrong. As President of the United States, Barack Obama is the chief law enforcement officer of this great land, and has authority over the Justice Department, which contains a little organization called – the FBI. Among the many investigations the FBI currently is involved in, is one to determine whether Hillary Rodham Clinton broke any laws when she utilized a private email server for official business, disclosed classified information, and destroyed evidence which had been subpoenaed.
Until last week, whenever President Obama had been asked to comment on the issues surrounding Hillary Clinton’s emails, he had always refused to comment, saying it would be “inappropriate to comment on a matter under an ongoing investigation.” But on 60 Minutes last week, President Obama changed his tune, and weighed in on Hillary’s email scandal, saying “it is not a situation in which America’s national security was endangered.”
What the President has done is highly inappropriate. He has injected himself into an ongoing investigation being done by the FBI, an organization under his purview. He is arguably signaling to the FBI not to find incriminating evidence, or to the Justice Department not to bring charges against Hillary Clinton. In my view this is outrageous, improper, and an abuse of the office of the Presidency.
Members of Congress, and the President, should await the results of the investigations being undertaken by the FBI and by the House Benghazi Committee, before reaching conclusions on evidence not yet available to them. Doing otherwise shortcuts justice, and is a disservice to the American people.
