Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that the guy knows what he’s doing.
During the past half year, President Obama made the call for a daring raid that led to the long-sought killing of Osama bin Laden that could have essentially ended his presidency had it gone bad, the type of raids the previous administration was reluctant to engage in because of our tenuous relationship with Pakistan, according to reports.
That was followed by the successful hunting and killing of another top terrorist target, Anwar al-Awlaki.
It was topped off with the end of the 42-year rule of Libyan tyrant Moammar Gadhafi, which was made possible because President Obama, despite criticism from both sides of the political aisle, ordered a military intervention primarily designed to prevent a massacre of maybe tens of thousands of Libyans and to put enough pressure on Gadhafi that he would not survive the onslaught by the Libyan people who had risen up against him.
It was done for next to no money, forced the Europeans to finally put significant skin in the game and didn’t involve the loss of a single American soldier.
That’s in addition to other reports that have been trickling out this year that al-Qaida in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the group responsible for the death of almost 3,000 Americans during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is teetering because of relentless drone attacks, the kind then-candidate Obama said he would authorize even while his opponents laughed at his seeming bravado.
Maybe he knows what he’s doing. At some point, maybe people will give him some credit, despite their hardened political views.
Maybe that time will be around Jan. 16 when the remaining contenders for the Republican presidential nomination will take the stage for a debate, probably at The Palace Theatre in Myrtle Beach. I suspect that will include at least former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former pizza executive Herman Cain.
I don’t know if they will be asked much about foreign policy and the clear-cut successes the Obama administration keeps racking up. (Did I mention that the Iraq war will be coming to a complete end Dec. 31?)
But the topic should be among those explored by our Fox News Channel hosts, particularly given this area’s deep military ties. We’ve lost lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and have families who continue to pray daily that they don’t get that knock on the front door. We still have injured veterans trying to cope, and decorated war heroes such as Gen. James Vaught who is advocating on their behalf.
How the person who takes the oath of office in January of 2013 uses our military is not just a national issue, but a local one as well.
The man who took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, has shown how he would use our military might. His choices have kept us safe and have terrorists on the run like never before.
Those choices have reset how we form coalitions throughout the world and they have major implications about how we use new and effective technology, such as the armed drones that have terrorists cowering in caves, afraid of being killed by what must seem like a rain of fire from miles above.
When the candidates meet here, I’m sure other topics will be covered as well, given an economy that is stuck in neutral. Maybe there will be a solid exchange on how best to reform a tax code no one likes, an issue Cain has pushed into a national conversation. He deserves credit for that no matter how one feels about his 9-9-9 plan.
But each candidate must pass the national security test, one hurdle everyone agrees must be cleared before any man or woman is qualified for the presidency.
President Obama has proven his mettle with his long list of foreign policy accomplishments.
A presidential debate in Myrtle Beach is the ideal place to test the national security vision of the GOP contenders.
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