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| Photo: Heritage.org |
President Obama and his
administration are not being proactive, but reactive once again in foreign
policy issues such as international terrorism.
The US received intelligence on potential terror attacks at U.S. embassies,
tourist locations, or on infrastructure in the Middle East. The US government issued a travel alert on August
2 in response to credible threats by terrorist groups, which will remain in
effect until August 31. In addition to the
alert, multiple embassies are to close August 4. The closed embassies focus around the Middle
East and northern Africa. While the Obama
administration is taking genuine precautions with the alerts and closures, Obama’s
continuous downplaying of the stranglehold that extremist groups still have in
the region has put American lives in constant danger.
The attack on the U.S. consulate
in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 is still being investigated as a failure of
response on part of both the White House and State Department with the subsequent
cover-up of the event as a terror attack.
The President, former US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, and former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all cited a video as the cause of protests
that became violent. We now know that
was a complete fallacy conjured up by the administration.
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| Photo: NPR.org |
CNN recently confirmed that there were CIA agents
on the ground at the time of the attack.
This raises more questions, and verifies that the motives for a cover-up
may be even worse than the initial reelection strategy theory. Even after President Obama proclaimed the demise
of Al-Qaeda, American civilians and soldiers alike are still being killed by
this gross negligence of foreign enemies.
Almost one year after the
Benghazi terror attack, the most recent alerts were issued at a time when
Secretary of State John Kerry is in the preliminary stages of Middle East peace
talks. One could find it quite ironic
Secretary Kerry is beginning peace talks for a region where the State Department
issued alerts and embassy closures. One must contemplate how the Obama
administration plans to use US influence to continue peace talks and see
progress when the government is closing embassies and issuing severe
alerts. While it is important to protect
the safety of Americans both abroad and at home, especially with credible
threats, it seems Obama is abandoning American power in the region. With fledgling democracies in Iraq and
Afghanistan, a possible nuclear Iran, and civil unrest in Egypt, Syria, and
many other Middle Eastern nations, decreasing American influence may increase
the impact extremists have.
The Obama administration may have
‘learned’ not to abandon Americans in need of assistance with the Benghazi
attack. However, President Obama, as
usual, may be taking this lesson to a whole new level. With credible threats, it would seem
plausible to increase visible security forces at our embassies; and should a
situation occur, to protect and defend the lives of Americans. Obama has no plans to do so. He had led from behind on many previous
issues in the region, and this is no exception.
Obama is simply being reactive to terrorist threats, not proactively
providing increased security and tracking down the actual terrorists accordingly.
The administration may believe
they are taking necessary steps to provide safety to Americans abroad; however,
closing embassies for one day will not simply eradicate the threat of terrorism,
especially when the closures are broadcasted to the whole world. It is this mindset of a diminished threat
from Al-Qaeda of which may have been the root cause of Benghazi as well as the lies
that followed, the Boston Marathon bombing, and countless other
situations.
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| Boston Herald Cover - Obama knows 'nothing.' |
The President needs to be
more proactive with American influence throughout the world; particularly in
the Middle East, not reactive to potentialities. Closing embassies may give the terrorists
ammunition in recruitment, saying Americans are scared of them. That’s precisely what extremists want –a weak
or even non-existent American influence.
Downplaying the strength extremist groups still have is ultimately dangerous
to the safety of Americans. It is unsettling
the country reelected a leader without a backbone, who time and time again
seems to have no clue about what’s going on in the world, much less in his own administration. However,
Americans should remain strong, and continue to proactively defend and promote
ideals like liberty, justice, and freedom; even if our president won’t.
Published: Freedom Weekly, August 7, 2013, Vol. 003 Issue 016
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