September 20, 2011
Today, the discriminatory law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (click here) is finally and formally repealed. As of today, patriotic Americans in uniform will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love. As of today, our armed forces will no longer lose the extraordinary skills and combat experience of so many gay and lesbian service members. And today, as Commander in Chief, I want those who were discharged under this law to know that your country deeply values your service....
December 3, 2015
Today, the Defense Department (click here) is taking another historic step forward by opening up the remaining 10 percent of military positions, including combat roles, to women. As Commander in Chief, I know that this change, like others before it, will again make our military even stronger. Our armed forces will draw on an even wider pool of talent. Women who can meet the high standards required will have new opportunities to serve. I know that, under the leadership of Secretary Carter and Chairman Dunford, our men and women in uniform will implement this transition -- as they have others -- in a responsible manner that maintains military readiness and the unparalleled professionalism and strength of our armed forces. Together, we're going to make sure our military remains the finest fighting force in the history of the world, worthy of all our patriots who serve -- men and women....
By Jeff Schogol
The Marine Corps (click here) will make history on Thursday when the first three female infantry Marines join their unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, officials said.
The women are headed to 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, where they will serve in the following infantry military occupational specialties: rifleman, machine gunner and mortar Marine, said 1st Lt. John McCombs, a spokesman for II Marine Expeditionary Force.
The battalion has a team of women leaders consisting of a logistics officer, motor transport officer and wire chief to support the female infantry Marines, McCombs said....
December 27, 2013
The day after Christmas, (click here) President Obama signed a defense bill with provisions to curb sexual assault in the U.S. military. Under the new law, anyone who engages in sexual assault will face dishonorable discharge, commanders are prevented from reversing jury decisions, legal assistance will be provided for victims, and “retaliation” against a victim will be punished.
The bill came in response to a Department of Defense report issued earlier this year, which claimed there were 26,000 victims of assault in the military in 2012. In the previous year, 19,000 assaults were disclosed from 2010. The numbers were not comprehensive, however, omitting additional accounts of sexual harassment, or “unwanted gender-related behavior.” The 26,000 figure also excludes quid-pro-quo intimidation, according to which victims are blackmailed into committing sexual acts in return for job security or career advancement. Repeated assaults are also discounted, as are assaults against civilians....
He ended the "W" forever war.
December 18, 2011
By Joseph Logan
The last convoy of U.S. soldiers pulled out of Iraq on Sunday, (click here) ending nearly nine years of war that cost almost 4,500 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives, and left a country grappling with political uncertainty.
The war launched in March 2003 with missiles striking Baghdad to oust President Saddam Hussein closes with a fragile democracy still facing insurgents, sectarian tensions and the challenge of defining its place in an Arab region in turmoil.
As U.S. soldiers pulled out, Iraq's delicate power-sharing deal for , Sunni and Kurdish factions was already under pressure. The Shi'ite-led government asked parliament to fire the Sunni deputy prime minister, and security sources said the Sunni vice president faced an arrest warrant.
The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armoured vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled across the southern Iraq desert from their last base through the night and daybreak along an empty highway to the Kuwaiti border....
President Obama resolved to diplomatic solutions with Syria to end it's chemical weapons program. President Obama was accessible to prevent war and death of innocent people when diplomacy was successful.
On August 21, 2013, (click here) chemical weapons were used in the suburbs of Damascus, Syria. 1,429 people died, including 426 children. [1] As gruesome video footage of the victims' suffering circulated worldwide, heated debate over how the international community should respond ensued. Most agreed that the Syrian regime should not be able to use chemical weapons, in violation of international law, with impunity. For some, prominently including the U.S. and French governments, the appropriate response appeared to be the use of force. President Obama announced his administration's intent to use limited air strikes to deter further chemical weapons use, and to damage the regime's capabilities to perpetrate such attacks. Other countries, including Russia and China, strongly opposed military action, advocating a diplomatic solution....As U.S. soldiers pulled out, Iraq's delicate power-sharing deal for , Sunni and Kurdish factions was already under pressure. The Shi'ite-led government asked parliament to fire the Sunni deputy prime minister, and security sources said the Sunni vice president faced an arrest warrant.
The final column of around 100 mostly U.S. military MRAP armoured vehicles carrying 500 U.S. troops trundled across the southern Iraq desert from their last base through the night and daybreak along an empty highway to the Kuwaiti border....
President Obama resolved to diplomatic solutions with Syria to end it's chemical weapons program. President Obama was accessible to prevent war and death of innocent people when diplomacy was successful.
President was the hero to the Yezidis of Iraq.
August 7, 2016
The President: Good evening. (click here) Today I authorized two operations in Iraq -- targeted airstrikes to protect our American personnel, and a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without food and water and facing almost certain death. Let me explain the actions we’re taking and why...
....Second, at the request of the Iraqi government -- we’ve begun operations to help save Iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain. As ISIL has marched across Iraq, it has waged a ruthless campaign against innocent Iraqis. And these terrorists have been especially barbaric towards religious minorities, including Christian and Yezidis, a small and ancient religious sect. Countless Iraqis have been displaced. And chilling reports describe ISIL militants rounding up families, conducting mass executions, and enslaving Yezidi women.
In recent days, Yezidi women, men and children from the area of Sinjar have fled for their lives. And thousands -- perhaps tens of thousands -- are now hiding high up on the mountain, with little but the clothes on their backs....
President Obama failed to end the presence of American troops in Afghanistan. The elections in Afghanistan in 2014 saw an increase in violence, including an assassination attempt on candidate Abdullah Abdullah. Three of his body guards were killed by suicide bombers. The armored vehicle was severely damaged. The Afghanistan elections of 2014 was the first time someone other than Karzai would lead the country.
October 15, 2015
By Matthew Rosenberg and Michael D. Shear
Washington — President Obama (click here) halted the withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan on Thursday, announcing that the United States will keep thousands of troops in the country through the end of his term in 2017 and indefinitely prolonging the American role in a war that has already lasted 14 years.
In a brief statement from the Roosevelt Room in the White House, Mr. Obama said he continued to oppose the idea of “endless war.” But the president, who once traveled to Afghanistan to declare “the light of a new day on the horizon,” said Thursday that a longer-term American presence there was vital to the security of the United States and a country that is beset by the Taliban, their allies from Al Qaeda, and militants from the Islamic State....
President Obama secured the death of Osama bin Laden.
By Bob Orr and Pat Milton
The raid on Osama bin Laden's Pakistan home produced what could be the biggest intelligence windfall since 9/11. (click here) Some of the most critical evidence was recovered from Osama bin Laden himself.
CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that after Navy SEALS scrambled away with the body of the al Qaeda leader, they made a startling discovery: Sewn inside bin Laden's clothing was cash, 500 Euros, and two phone numbers apparently intended to aid an escape.
Now, intelligence analysts are digging into those numbers, tracing previous calls to and from those phones, mapping out a network of terrorist communications.
CBS News national security analyst Juan Zarate says they could reveal who bin Laden was talking to, who he was directing, as well as other phone numbers linked to al Qaeda operatives.
The bin Laden compound gave up more evidence than U.S. officials had ever expected: At least five computers, a dozen hard drives, storage devices such as DVDs and thumb drives and more than one hundred computer disks. The SEALs also grabbed handwritten notes, weapons, and an assortment of personal items that could reveal key clues about other high-ranking al Qaeda leaders and potential plots. It appears everything was being brought to and from the compound by couriers....
The Obama military saw drones that carried out some very heinous attacks with successes in ending the lives of international criminals engaged in terrorist activities.
But.
There were also innocent people killed by errors in the drone program. Besides weddings turned into blood baths of innocent people, perhaps the worst "Oops" of the drone program was an attack on a "Doctors without Borders" hospital.
If there is one area tarnished and in question is the fact President Obama signed off on a drone program that was merciless known to have killed innocent people, including the son of an American Imam.
