Mr. President, What Happened to Your Promises?
|
Print This Post
By Steve Gonzalez.
President Obama’s failure in securing the 2016 Olympics has created a growing perception that he is all about promises with no results and has become more of a celebrity than a leader.
On the campaign trail and once in office, President Obama made a number of promises to the American people and U.S. military. He pledged that he would fully and properly equip troops, work to end NATO restrictions on forces in Afghanistan, and call for a bipartisan consultative group of congressional leaders on national security. During his campaign Senator Obama made promises that he or his administration has yet to take action on.
In 2008, Senator Obama assured the military in his campaign pledge “Barack Obama on defense issues: A 21st Century Military for America,” that once elected president he would:
Marines at target practice. Photo Credit: Anthony Scrimo, USMC.
“Fully Equip Our Troops for the Missions They Face: We must listen to our ground commanders when they tell us what kinds of technology and skills they need to fight most effectively. We cannot repeat the failure to swiftly deploy up-armored vehicles in response to insurgent tactics. We must prioritize getting vitally needed equipment to our Soldiers and Marines before lives are lost.”
What are we waiting for, more American deaths?
In 2007, Candidate Obama gave a speech titled “Barack Obama: The War We Need To Win” promising U.S. military commanders he would work with NATO allies to end restrictions imposed on NATO forces in Afghanistan – that has tied the hands of ground commanders with the authority to properly deploy troops – thus hindering their operation capabilities.
On October 9th, 2009, President Obama met with NATO Secretary General Rasmussen, to discuss NATO’s role in Afghanistan. After their meeting, General Rasmussen stated “I agree with President Obama in his approach: strategy first, then resources”; General McChrystal provided you with an Afghanistan strategy, where are the resources?
On October 2nd, 2007, Senator Obama gave a speech at DePaul University titled “A New Beginning,” in this speech he promised the students and American people that he would:
“…turn the page on the imperial presidency that treats national security as a partisan issue – not an American issue. I will call for a standing, bipartisan Consultative Group of congressional leaders on national security. I will meet with this Consultative Group every month, and consult with them before taking major military action…But these discussions have to take place on a bipartisan basis, and support for these decisions will be stronger if they draw on bipartisan counsel.”
If this administration cannot work across parties on domestic issues, or the Afghanistan strategy, how can you expect them to work on foreign policies or national security issues? Either way, this so-called bipartisan counsel has not materialized nor seen the light of day.
What happened to these promises? Did it get buried under every other promise? Did it get lost? Or was it just plain old campaign promises on your way to the presidency? Regardless of the question, it is our responsibility as Americans to find out why were these promises not kept.
Bear in mind, it is the duty of every American to hold these elected officials to the standards for which they were elected to office. Asking such questions is not un-American or racially motivated, regardless of what liberals might think or believe; on the contrary “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation,” Thomas Jefferson. Just remember the government works for you the American people, and you do not answer to them, they answer to you.
What a change this administration turned out to be! All promises but no action.
Steve Gonzalez holds a Bachelors Degree in International Studies from Queens University of Charlotte and is a Marine Corps veteran.
Related posts:
- Iraq’s Future still in Doubt as American Troops Draw Down As the last U.S. combat brigade pulled out of Iraq...
- More Troops Needed in Afghanistan, or No “Mission Accomplished” The war in Afghanistan has become more grueling and...
- Obama’s Iraq Speech Worries Afghanistan This story is not a surprise to anyone who has...
- Obama Declares Victory in War He Opposed President Barack Obama declared Monday that the Iraq war was...
- President Obama honors Veterans Day while still deciding on Afghanistan On his first Veterans Day as president, Barack Obama...
He didn’t keep good notes as his list of promises kept growing. He’s a salesman and too bad many people bought his pitch. I hope he doesn’t completely destroy the office he hustled for his marxist agenda. He seeks to control us by taking away our rights under the fallacy of change.
Excellent article. Thanks for sounding the truth alarm.
Way to go Steve. I have made these same comments to various friends and family members and I get labeled as “Anti-American” because I don’t want more govt being involved in my life. If you ever had any doubt as what changes he was going to make it was clear within the first 100 days of office:
1 – His appointments to various cabinet positions had to justify way they failed to pay their taxes and then allowed were allow to hold offices that had oversight on our finances,
2 – the filling out a questionnaire to be consider to work within the White House, which if the president himself had we made him fill it out before taking office, he would of failed and
3 – within days of signing legislation of no lobbyist allowed on any cabinet committee or office – he made three an exceptions: “The White House has issued three waivers lifting its ban on former registered lobbyists working in the administration. The first was to Bill Lynn, a former lobbyist for Raytheon, so he could become deputy Defense secretary; Jocelyn Frye, former general counsel of the National Partnership for Women and Families; and Cecilia Munoz, the former vice president of the National Council for La Raza. Frye is now the director of policy and projects for first lady Michelle Obama, and Munoz is the director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.” (Mr. Major Garrett – FOXNews.com, Apr 21, 2009).