That's not Burner's point, frank. He believes that America's military precipitously declined during the past 8 years under a Commander in Chief he did not respect. Even though that President adopted the military/intelligence driven black ops dark war to fight terrorism without American boots on the ground that evolved during the latter stages of the Bush Administration when the American people got war fatigue and didn't believe sacrificing our young men and women in the Middle East was going to solve their problems. (it still won't...ask the generals)

Under Obama, the black ops drone war against terrorism escalated tremendously, under the same two generals, Mc Raven and McChrystal, who developed and coordinated the program under Bush. It launched thousands of strikes all over the region, compared to the few hundreds under Bush. Critics, me included, believe that the number of strikes and the percentage of accidents (estimated at about 10%) that killed innocent civilians and the reliance of less than trustworthy locals for intel on who the "terrorists" were and where they hid, led to the creation of more terrorists than were terminated.

Obama did it without fanfare and the GOP-led Congress was kept informed and tacitly agreed, never openly praising or questioning that strategy. The mood in America continued to be "no more American boots on the ground in the Middle East." The GOP refused to hold a hearing, let alone grant Obama the war authority to strike Syria in 2013, when he requested it.

Military spending increased during Obama's terms, until the GOP-led Congress, determined to cripple the Obama administration, threatened the shut-down of the federal govt and enforced the budget sequestration that led to across-the-board budget cuts in federal spending, including some military budget cuts...GOP inflicted, and not Obama's idea...

Our military was, during the Obama years, and remains the most robust and powerful one ever, despite what Trump says...just add up all the Navy and Coast Guard ships, Air Force aircraft, Army and Marine tanks, missile launchers and armored vehicles, ICBM missiles w nuclear warheads, anti-missile defense systems, guided bombs and missiles including many with nuclear warheads that can be launched from numerous platforms on land, on the ocean, under the ocean surface, and from the air. Our military man-power and training, especially special operations, exceeds any other nation, and is the envy of most. The spec ops strike that took out Bin Laden demonstrated what the American military could accomplish...

We don't need to parade our military might down the streets of our capital...just take a look at all the American military bases all over the world...they are gleaming modern day fortresses that project strength and stability and protects American interests around the globe...do a google search on "strongest military in the world, past ten years"...those numbers didn't decline under Obama...and Trump didn't just pull that MOAB outta his thin air...

delta1 wrote:

control the spending... don't think the $500 hammer doesn't exist... It's the replacement parts that kill us.. if a U-bolt gets bent and it has paint on it it can cost $400 to replace from the OEM. or you could just walk into a hardware store and get one for 3 bucks...

DrafterX wrote:

We must acknowledge that our generals are the most knowledgeable and experienced voices about our use of the military in foreign policy, and they are candid about non-military solutions as well. Most would argue for diplomatic solutions and that the use of combat tactics that would expose our men and women should be a last resort. But can generals ever be able to say: "we don't need any more weapons or man-power?" Most generals will say, and have always said: if we don't fund this latest request, we'll be endangering our national security and weaken our military...

delta1 wrote:

You republicans blame Obama for everything - yet fail to recall that he came to the show late and long after the damage had been done. Obama had nothing to do with the support for the Shah that turned Iran against us and had nothing to do with us giving arms to both sides in the Iran-Iraq war. It was long ago when we provided funding and arms to Israel so they could defend themselves against the Arabs around them. Then there was the Bush wars against Iraq that left them unable to resist Islamic radicals taking over parts of the country and making Iran the elephant in the room. And now we have a nutcase in the white house that will probably start or encourage wars with Iran and North Korea while alienating many of our allies. It's not the black guy that caused those problems.

tonygraz wrote:

I get that America was tired of war and the Middle East but Obama did not have to screw up the end game. He is pretty much solely responsible for the current mess that we have in the Middle East.

Glad your SIL is safe but a little closer to home both of my son's were in the sand box and they as well are safe.

Burner02 wrote: