WOTR - Unspoken Legacy: The Perils of Letting Obama Off the Hook...

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Many Americans were fond of Barack Obama. He left office with some of the highest approval ratings of his entire term. On foreign policy, as in most matters, he seemed reflective, deliberate, and rational. An effective communicator, he maintained composure and presidential poise, no matter the topic. In rare moments of frustration, Obama channeled “disappointed sitcom dad” rather than “blustering bully.” Love him or hate him, Obama was a gentleman. And that’s the problem. Mainstream progressives – who cried foul at George W. Bush’s every move – looked the other way as Obama expanded unfettered presidential power in foreign affairs. Why? Because they trusted him – his judgment, character, and motives. Maybe that trust was warranted. Here’s the catch: the 22nd amendment. No president may serve for more than eight years, no matter how beloved (by some). Furthermore, each chief executive creates important precedents for his successor. For this reason, many liberals – and perhaps the former president himself – may come to lament Obama’s principal foreign policy legacy: the unbridled expansion of executive power in matters of (endless) war.

Presidential primacy is nothing new, of course. Executive power has gradually expanded for centuries, especially since World War II. The Obama administration eschewed imprudent, large-scale, conventional invasions, but his legacy is also defined by a sustained campaign of extrajudicial killings of terrorists, expanding the range and geographic scope of military operations, and cracking down on media leaks and whistleblowers. In each sphere, Obama’s hawkish behavior surpassed even that of George W. Bush. This is one reason why Republican criticism of Obama’s supposedly “weak” and “feckless” foreign policy was so confusing. Sure, it’s fair to debate the wisdom of the Iran nuclear deal, his handling of the Syrian civil war, and his near-total withdrawal from Iraq. These are thorny issues worthy of complex analysis. But to label Obama a “dove” is just empirically false.

Bush and his advisors – think Cheney, Wolfowitz, and company – thought big: massive invasions, democracy promotion, remaking the Middle East, etc. Not so for “no-drama Obama.” He preferred more precise, discreet responses to regional terrorism. Bush may have started the covert drone strikes in Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, but Obama ordered ten times as many attacks. Look, many (maybe a majority) of the victims were dangerous, dedicated terrorists. However, militants’ family members and other innocent bystanders also perished. One might plausibly ask why the method of killing matters. War is war and it is hell, after all. Nonetheless, there is something unique, unsettling, and even “Orwellian” about a president maintaining “kill lists” and holding “Terror Tuesday” targeting meetings. Remember, the United States is not at war with Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, or Yemen. After 15 years of strife, it seems Americans became numb to just how unprecedented this is – violating airspace to kill foreign nationals in sovereign nations on a weekly basis.

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