Has the terrorist war clouded Obama Administration’s judgment?
By Roger Caldwell
There is a fundamental problem with the United States government, when the German Chancellor Angela Merkel is personally calling President Obama and asking him if our government is bugging her mobile phone. Germany is not the only country that is concerned with our international surveillance program, because France, Brazil, and other countries are also concerned.
“The president assured the chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor. The United States greatly values our close cooperation with Germany on a broad range of shared security challenges,” says White House spokesman Jay Carney.
Jay Carney did not admit the United States had never monitored the chancellor’s mobile phone conversations. But National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has published material in a German news magazine about our intelligence program spying on 35 world leaders. As details of the National Security Agency intelligence programs become public, citizens, activist, and politicians in countries from Latin America to Europe have expressed outrage and shock.
All around the world, countries want answers to the extent of American surveillance in their countries, and President Obama appears to have no answers. This appears to be a case where the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing, and either one can be trusted. At this point our integrity and credibility has been shattered, and it is not a good way for the president to start his second term.
Also in the last weeks, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch has published two reports that charge America with unlawful killings of civilians by strikes from unmanned armed drone aircraft. The White House admitted killing civilians, but denied breaking the law. It is okay to charge other countries when they break international law, but when the United States breaks the law, it is a mistake.
When our president received the Nobel Peace Prize, I thought that it was an indicator of our president’s platform and beliefs. I thought that our president was a man of peace and his actions would exemplify those qualities. But somewhere our president has fallen off the track, and many times he reminds me of our last President Bush.
It is obvious that in 2013, we live in a very dangerous world, but every global country is beginning to fear the United States. In the Amnesty International report entitled, “Will I be next, US drone strikes in Pakistan,” the report revealed extreme human rights abuses from America. The report charged drone attacks killed 82 people including children near the Afghan border in 2006, and in 2011 killed 88 people in Pakistan.
The report is urging the U.S. Congress to investigate the reported killings and publish the findings. But Jay Carney is adamant that the U.S. counterterrorist actions are precise, which we all know is not the truth. When the White House acknowledges that citizens and children have been killed, the drone strikes are not always precise.
It appears that the Obama Administration is having problems confronting and accepting the truth. This is not only at home but also around the world. When friendly world leaders are concerned about your integrity, it is time to look into the mirror, and see if you like what you see.
President Obama was voted into office because we believed he was a man of peace with high moral standards. There is terrorism, bloodshed, and violence around the world and America must not become what it is trying to stop. If our friendly world leaders cannot trust the actions of President Obama and his administration, how can American citizens trust our president?
