O_ama and Politics

I seem to remember a very strong anti-war contingent that was largely responsible for getting Obama elected. Many people are anti-war generally, but this particular crowd was especially anti-war-on-terror. This was not a small percentage of Obama's core constituency when he was running; they accounted for a significant percentage of his followers. You would think that in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden this would accord them a chance to speak about their despondency. What a perfect opportunity to voice their disappointment in Obama's decision to prosecute of the War on Terror. Yet, oddly, the silence is deafening.

Nay, not silence. Amongst the very voices that vehemently opposed the War on Terror when George W. Bush was pursuing it, there seems to be a great deal of triumphalism in response to Osama's death, and much credit being given to Obama for accomplishing it. I don't have catalogues of data on statements made by liberals, but I will bet that some of the more keen, hard working right-wing bloggers and radio-hosts are scouring the annals for instances of just this kind of hypocrisy right now. I expect them to find an absolute wealth of material.

I also happen to think that the credit being given to Obama is well deserved. Obama could have called off the War on Terror all together, or at least scaled it back significantly, but he largely stayed on course with only some strategical fine-tuning adjustments. Which is something a liberal president very easily might not have done. But why does the left want to give him credit for accomplishing something which they -- mostly -- didn't think should be pursued in the first place?

To be fair, some on the left didn't have a problem with going after Osama or Al-qaeda per se, but only with the strategy and the priorities of the Bush administration. If you are one of those people, then this post doesn't pertain to you. It pertains to the large percentage of liberals who had a problem with the War on Terror in principle (or so they said) when Bush was pursuing it, and have now either gone silent, or have begun celebrating the fact that their guy 'finished the job'.

 If these liberals have simply come around to the side of sanity, then I applaud their shift in position. Now, kindly give credit to the one who had the vision and courage to start the War on Terror in the first place, if you find great satisfaction in its continued prosecution and one of its major positive outcomes. Though I won't hold my breath.