»Ashlie Talley – atalley2@my.apsu.edu
When an idea is formed, the person responsible for the idea should get the credit. For someone else to take credit for another person’s work is immoral by our society’s standards. However, it seems to be ok by everybody’s standards President Obama gets the credit for ending the war in Iraq.
President Obama did not formulate the plan to withdraw American troops from Iraq this December.
The combined efforts of the Bush administration and the Iraqi government rendered a bilateral agreement back in 2008 that they would be gone by this point in time.
The assumption was the Iraqi army would have had copious amounts of training by this time and it would be able to defend the country.
Not only was this not President Obama’s plan, but rather, he wanted to retain a number of troops in Iraq because the aforementioned training is not expected to reach full potential until 2020 at the earliest.
The problem is, not only do the Iraqis have a bilateral agreement both President Bush and the Iraqi government signed, but the Iraqi people in general do not want the United States there.
A poll done by the State Department and acquired by the Washington Post showed 71 percent of Iraqis do not want the United States involved and are in favor of them pulling out. This being the case, Obama has no choice but to pull our troops out of the country.
Why would the leader of our country take credit for making the call to bring our troops home?
He never signed a bilateral agreement and he didn’t want to bring them home in the first place. The answer is simple — ratings.
In a poll done by The Economist, Obama’s approval rating was more than 60 percent in January-February 2009. According to Yahoo! News, a recent poll reveals that it now sits at 47 percent
People approve of him less and less the more they realize his plans are headed for a dead end.
Everything he has accomplished so far has been cosmetic issues that should not overshadow the vast number of significant issues which need immediate response. He has failed to address these issues, let alone improve them.
For instance, he spent a great deal of time repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell — an achievement worthy of very high commendation of course. However, this particular problem within our system was in less need of immediate attention than our growing debt crisis, which he’s only piled onto since his election.
According to Fox News, on Feb. 14, Obama’s budget plan of 3.73 trillion for the 2012 fiscal year is 10.9 percent of the GDP, and is the highest it has been since World War II.
His proposal is also expected to cut $1.1 trillion out of the deficit when $4 trillion is needed to avoid financial breakdown. Obama raised the debt ceiling three times this year.
To top this off, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states our unemployment rates are up to nine percent from the four percent they were in January. This does not bode well for Obama since we are nearing a presidential election.
Bringing the troops home is simply another proverbial paint stroke over the rusty undersurface, and he is by no means entitled to it.
He will take credit for it as long as it will boost his ratings in the next election to help him get the vote. Give credit where credit is due, not where it will serve one most. TAS
Mac
HAHA!! Really?! The Bush administration is STILL grasping at straws in an attempt to re-write history and get people to forget the fact that so so totally and utterly screwed up that even NOW, 3+ years later, they and their supporters are attempting to claim credit for something, ANYTHING that can be twisted as some sort of “We done did good” moment.
I’ve got some news for you… Iraqis have wanted us out of there for AT LEAST 6 years, probably more. How do I know this? I was THERE in Iraq, and saw and heard it EVERY DAY, that’s how.
“Obama raised the debt ceiling three times this year.” **GASP** That’s TERRIBLE!! Oh, wait.. Bush raised the debt ceiling 19 times! It was OK then, though- right?
And, by the way… about that troop withdrawl- Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, John McCain and at least 9 other REPUBLICAN Senators are questioning the Iraqi withdrawl and President Obama’s judgment on this issue, and are calling for Congressional hearings in an effort to delay or stop the troop withdrawl.
When your research into an article starts and stops at a single source, a source that’s notoriously and unabashedly anti-President Obama, and then that “research” and/or personal opinion is presented as “Fact”, that’s at best irresponsible journalism.
Brandon Marshall
I would like to begin by criticizing the level of fact checking that went into this article. The statement that the unemployment rate in January was four percent and has raised to nine percent is, in every way possible, FALSE. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea01.pdf) the unemployment rate for January 2011 was, and this might be amazing, nine percent. In fact, the unemployment rate has not been four percent since 2000. Our economic situation isn’t great, but it isn’t getting worse, and compared ot the high of 9.8 percent in November of 2010, it’s better. It’s slow going, but things are getting better.
Furthermore, I would like to remind people the President of the United States, whoever it is, can focus on more than one issue at once. The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (a victory for the rights of homosexuals that shouldn’t be just thrown away as a ‘cosmetic issue’) has not been the only thing the President has done. While controversial, there is also the health care reform passed in Obama’s early years, the stimulus plan (again, I will admit it controversial), and he is currently touring the nation to try and get a jobs plan passed. However, when working with a divided government such as it is now, it is harder to get things and done, especially when the opposition party seems dedicated to making sure the President fails to ensure he is a ‘one term President’.
In summary, while I do welcome debate and discussion about the policies of our President, such discussion should be based on well-researched facts and information. I would have expected better fact-checking than what was present in this article. With that in mind, I encourage everyone to always double check any figures and facts someone states in an article, and always ensure there is a cited source. Uncited claims are worth less than the paper it’s printed on.