Obama
US President Obama was arguably one of the most influential and most popular US president. His calm and collected demeanour, mixed with his penchant for having fun with the press, made him a fan favourite really quick. He is probably someone you can chill with, throwback and have a beer or two. Although, George W Bush, the predecessor of Obama ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy the terrorist group al-Qaeda, and capture Osama bin Laden. He also signed the controversial Patriot Act in order to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists, there were 10 times more air strikes in the cover war during Obama's presidency.
Obama embraced the US drone programme, overseeing more strikes in his first year than Bush carried out during his entire presidency. A total of 563 strikes, largely by drones, targeted Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during Obama’s two terms, compared to 57 strikes under Bush. Between 384 and 807 civilians were killed in those countries, according to reports logged by the Bureau.
Although the administration kept hammering this ideal that these strikes are “clean and precise”, as the number of air strikes increase, the number of civilian casualties did so too.
My point with this blog isn’t to hate on Obama. It’s just to bring to light a MAJOR fact most people miss while they teach history.
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