Objectively speaking, what have been Barack Obama's successes as president? What have been his failures?

I didn't say "everything." I listed things that are on his record, your refutation is just a long-winded way of saying "not his fault."

Syria. Obama armed the rebels without congress, and he promised them help and didn't deliver. He can be personally blamed for that going supernova in the early days, yes. This is not a controversial view.

Libya. He personally called for military action against Ghaddafi. He led the coalition that killed and toppled the government, then he left a power vacuum. I suspect people don't care because of geography. If he had destroyed the government of Canada and then left it for ISIS to fester and grow in, you would care a bit more.

Crimea and Ukraine should have been defended, we had a treaty to protect Ukraine from 1994. Obama did not. We sent "arms", but I guess Obama did that to the rebels in Syria and the cartels in Mexico too so take that or leave it.

Collapse of Afghanistan happened as people predicted from 2008. By marking a "we'll leave by 1 Jan" date on the calendar, the resurgence of the Taliban was predictable like clockwork. We pulled out like Vietnam and people suffered. Troops surged, Bowe Burghdahl, etc etc.

Iraq fell to Isis as we sat on the sidelines. Now half of the country is in its second year of being RECONQUERED because Obama sat around and did nothing until he threw in the air support once the ENTIRE WORLD saw the dangers.

I will grant some leniency on the Egypt/Arab Spring topics. Unfortunately, Obama gave the entire movement a ringing endorsement..to include the Muslim Brotherhood. He aided and abetted each rebel movement and mentioned it in his annual addresses. Not all his fault, I will grant you, but he didn't help.

His legacy in the world is a disaster on the whole. Apart from that, his internal policies were socially divisive, his politics hurt party cooperation. If anything, his national Healthcare Plan was his only "potentially" positive mark, but I of course personally believe it has been a resounding net bad for America thus far.

/r/NeutralPolitics Thread Parent