Is America Safer Under Barack Obama?
As the country reflects on the one year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, President Obama’s foreign policy skills have been at the center of the general election debate. The Obama re-election campaign has not been quiet about marking the anniversary and touting Obama’s role in the raid, and they have also produced campaign materials outlining other ways the president has sought out and destroyed terrorists and American enemies. Mitt Romney, Obama’s presumed Republican challenger, has downplayed the role Obama played in ordering the bin Laden raid, and throughout his campaign he has consistently attacked Obama’s positions on Iran and Afghanistan, among other things.
Some argue that America is safer because of Obama’s foreign policy, and they say that his laser-like focus on dismantling al Qaeda has been instrumental in preventing terrorist attacks on American soil. They also commend him for pulling out of Iraq and for doubling down on America’s military efforts in Afghanistan.
Detractors find Obama’s politicizing of the bin Laden anniversary shameful, and they hold that Obama’s planned defense budget cuts will make America unsafe. They also argue that Obama’s brand of foreign policy has harmed American relationships with places like Pakistan and Russia, making the country more vulnerable.
Is America safer under Barack Obama? Here is the Debate Club’s take:
The Arguments
No — Threats to national security have grown more dangerous under Obama
EDWARD A. TURZANSKI, National Security Analyst at La Salle University Comment (1)
No — The president's promise of a "peace dividend" is illusory
JAMES JAY CARAFANO, Director of the Heritage Foundation's Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies Comment (2)
No — Treating terrorists like common criminals, and softening interrogation techniques, is playing with fire
NATHAN SALES, Law Professor at George Mason University School of Law Comment (3)
Yes — Flaws of TSA, Homeland Security are a reminder that America and the president has also been lucky
LAWRENCE HUSICK, Co-chairman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Center for the Study of Terrorism Comment
Yes — Obama smartly built his national security strategy on the lessons of his predecessors
JAMES DOBBINS, Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation Comment
Yes — Obama's national security staff appointments have made America safer
WILLIAM F. DADDIO, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Comment (3)
Yes — The Obama administration's capable handling of national security policy has certainly made America safer
LAWRENCE J. KORB, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Comment (4)
- Previous Topics
-
Should the Lower Interest Rate on Stafford Loans Be Extended?
-
Should People Be Allowed to Carry Guns Openly?
-
Is Arizona's SB 1070 Immigration Law Constitutional?
-
Will Obama's Plan to Enforce Oil Market Regulations Lower Gas Prices?
-
Should the Congress Pass CISPA?
-
Should the 'Buffett Rule' Become Law?
