If you’ve been watching political TV of late, you’ve seen way too much of Mr. Gingrich huffing and puffing that President Obama has the absolute worst record of ANY President on foreign policy and national security. Well Mr. Gingrich, you’re not only wrong, you’re lying through your teeth (or is it your dentures) … whatever!
It never ceases to amaze me how RepubliBans (I’ve changed their name to a more appropriate spelling, since they always want to BAN something) can accuse President Obama of making America less safe, when his foreign policy achievements include taking out multiple terrorist leaders using a strategy of small teams of America’s elite military forces. So the next time on of your Tea Party acquaintances tries repeating a claim such as Mr. Gingrich’s, here’s a short list to remind everyone of just how seriously President Obama takes the national security of the United States:
- 2012/01: Abdullah Khorsani … Al-Qaeda senior external operations planner … KILLED
- 2011/09: Anwar al-Awlaki …Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader … KILLED by US Hellfire missles
- 2011/09: Abu Hafs al-Shahri … Al-Qaeda’s chief of Pakistan operations … KILLED by Predator strike in Pakistan
- <2011/09: Yunis al-Mauritani … AQ external operations commander … ARRESTED in Pakistan
- 2011/09: Ali Saleh Farhan … AQAP senior operative … KILLED
- 2011/08: Atiyah ‘Abd al-Rahman … Al-Qaeda deputy leader … KILLED by Predator strike in Pakistan
- 2011/06: Ilyas Kashmiri … Al-Quaeda commander … KILLED by Predator strike in Pakistan
- 2011/06: Ammar al-Wa’ili … AQAP senior operative … KILLED in an air strike on a cell in Yemen
- 2011/06: Qassem al-Rimi … Al-Qaeda senior military commander … KILLED in an air strike on a cell in Yemen
- 2011/06: Ayedh al-Shabwani … Al-Qaeda operative in Yemen … KILLED in an air strike on a cell in Yemen
- 2011/06: Saleh al-Tais … Al-Qaeda operative in Yemen … KILLED in an air strike on a cell in Yemen
- 2011/06: Abu Ali al-Harithi … AQAP senior operative … KILLED by a U.S. air strike
- 2011/06: Harun Fazul … Al-Qa’ida in East Africa (AQEA) senior leader … KILLED in Somalia
- 2011/05: Osama bin Laden … Al-Qaeda Mastermind … KILLED in Pakistan during a raid to capture him
- 2010/06: Hamza al-Jawfi … Al-Qaeda commander … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2010/05: Sheik Saeed al-Masri … Al-Qaeda’s number three commander … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2010/04: Abu Ayyub al-Masri … Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader … KILLED in Iraq
- 2010/04: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi … Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader … KILLED in Iraq
- 2010/03: Hussein al-Yemeni … AQ operative … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2010/02: Abdul Ghani Beradar … Taliban deputy and military commander … CAPTURED in Pakistan
- 2010/02: Muhammad Haqqani … Haqqani network commander … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2010/02: Qari Zafar … Lashkar-e Jhangvi leader … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2009/12: Abdallah Sa’id … Al-Qaeda operational commander … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2009/12: Saleh al-Somal … Al-Qaeda operational commander … KILLED in Pakistan
- 2009/o9: Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan … AQEA planner … KILLED in Somalia
- 2009/o9: Noordin Muhammad Top … Jemayah Islamiya operational planner … KILLED in Indonesia
- 2009/o8: Baitullah Mahsud … Tehrik e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader … KILLED in Pakistan
Oh … and let’s not forget about the ability to build a coalition to go after Moammar Kadafi. And let’s not forget the multiple Somali pirates and multiple Somali hostage takers killed or captured as well. But if you’re still confused about which man would keep America safer, I think the following quote will make it clear.
“This is one of the great tragedies of the Bush administration. The more successful they’ve been at intercepting and stopping bad guys, the less proof there is that we’re in danger … It’s almost like they should, every once in a while, have allowed an attack to get through just to remind us.” — Newt Gingrich, at a book talk in Huntington, NY, April 2008, saying that republicans should allow terrorist attacks on American soil just to remind us of the dangers in the world.
Now, what exactly was it that Candidate Obama said before becoming President … that he would track down and take out Al-Qaeda’s leadership and that if Osama bin Laden was in Pakistan and the Pakistani’s wouldn’t take action … he would. HE did!
“And if we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out.” — Candidate Obama during the October 2008 Debate
Sorry Newt, but America is a much safer place, thanks to President Obama, his administration and our military.