While conservatives have struggled to paint President Barack Obama as soft on terror — or perhaps even a closeted Muslim — the Administration has continued to chalk up an astonishing list of national security successes.<\/p>\n
The big moment, of course, came in the spring when Obama’s team made the decisions that led to the on-the-ground execution of Osama bin Laden at a residence in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Mr. Obama decided to cast aside diplomatic and legal concerns about a military raid on an ally’s sovereign territory, leading to the confirmed death of the most reviled man in modern American history.<\/p>\n
But that high-profile operation was only one in a series of remarkable accomplishments over the last year and a half.\u00a0 In August, Al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed by a drone strike in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Last month, Anwar al-Awlaki, a key American-born Al Quaeda leader was killed by another drone strike in Yemen.<\/p>\n
The Obama administration has, in many ways, managed to overcome what was perhaps the gravest fear about his presidency — that he wouldn’t have the stuff to take on the war on terror.<\/p>\n
His team has managed to crippled Al Quaeda and other terror cells, while reducing sharply the number of American casualties.<\/p>\n
What’s interesting is how little all of this has boosted his political fortunes.\u00a0 The truth is that by the time Mr. Obama took office, most Americans were done with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and perhaps even done with the war on terror itself.<\/p>\n
Those conflicts were vanishing from our TV screens and our newspapers and, let’s be honest, from most of our thoughts.<\/p>\n
Yes, it was a good thing that bin Laden was removed from the world stage — some people actually took to the streets to celebrate — but for most Americans, those issues have been eclipsed by the economy, by lackluster jobs numbers.<\/p>\n
Two other factors shape Mr. Obama’s lonely path as a war president.<\/p>\n
The first is that the country’s most hawkish citizens tend to be Republican and conservative and for reasons that have nothing to do with national defense they have no interest in giving him credit for these meaningful successes.<\/p>\n
The second is that many of the country’s most liberal and progressive citizens — the president’s natural “base” — also tend to be doves when it comes to the war on terror.<\/p>\n
Indeed, for many Democrats, the elimination of key Al Quaeda leaders has been overshadowed by moral questions, including citizen deaths caused by drone strikes, and the continued operation of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.<\/p>\n
(Also, perhaps, by revelations last week that the White House has a secret panel, operating without oversight, that can with the President’s say-so put militants — even American militants — on a “kill” list.)<\/p>\n
In many respects, Mr. Obama’s political fortunes may echo those of the first President Bush, whose adroit handling of the First Gulf War was quickly superseded by other political events.<\/p>\n
Republicans do take an occasional, half-hearted jab at this President’s war record, but it’s telling that they pivot as quickly as possible to talk about taxes, domestic regulations — really, anything else.<\/p>\n
So what do you think?\u00a0 Is this a guy who’s been surprisingly tough in keeping America safe?\u00a0 Too hawkish for your taste?\u00a0 Will it make any difference when choosing our next commander in chief next year?<\/p>\n
Comments welcome below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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