Barack Obama

On the Iraq War

"He [Saddam Hussein] has repeatedly defied U.N. resolutions, thwarted U.N. inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity." (10/2/2002, speaking at an anti-war rally in Chicago. Stated he was against the Iraq war, but agreed that Hussein was developing weapons.) [1] [2]

On Drone Strikes

Obama has ordered more Drone Strikes than any other President. As of 2015, there had been 456 drone strikes that had called 2464 people, including 314 civilians.[[3]]. Many civil liberty advocates have criticized Obama for his use of drone strikes. However, despite ordering more than any other President, Obama has tried to defend his use of the stikes by saying their use has been constrained. "The use of drones is heavily constrained. America does not take strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists; our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute. America cannot take strikes wherever we choose; our actions are bound by consultations with partners, and respect for state sovereignty." 2013 Speech. [[4]]

Broken Campaign Promises

Scaling Back of NSA Spying

In 2007 Obama promised to curtail illegal surveillance of the American people, stating: "I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom. That means no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient." [[5]] Despite this, the Obama administration essentially continued the spying it so criticized the Bush administration for, allowing these programs to remain with blinking an eye until whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the NSA's secret surveillance of Americans. After that revelation, there has been some reform to these programs, but despite Obama's promises in 2007, U.S. intelligence agency's spying apparatuses remain in place.

Guantanamo Bay

On the campaign trail for the 2008 election, Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay saying: "As president, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Our Constitution and our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists." Aug. 2007[[6]]

However, as of 2016 the prison remains open as Obama's efforts stalled in Congress in the begginning of his term. in 2015, Obama vowed to revisit the issue, but the prison remains open as of June, 2016. [[7]]

Super PACS

"If you choose change, you will have a nominee who doesn't take a dime from Washington lobbyists and PACs,” Obama said in a campaign speech in Denver, Colorado in 2008.[[8]]

However, four years later, Obama had embraced Super PACS, while still professing to despise their influence in politics. [[9]]

Bush-Era Tax Cuts Mr. Obama, an Illinois Democrat seeking his party’s presidential nomination, said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that he supported “rolling back the Bush tax cuts on the top 1 percent of people who don’t need it. " 2007 [[10]]

However, in 2010 Obama brokered a deal with House Republicans to extend the Bush Tax Cuts, breaking his earlier campaign promise. [[11]]

New Era of Transparancy/Protection of Whistleblowers

"The American people want to trust in our government again – we just need a government that will trust in us. And making government accountable to the people isn't just a cause of this campaign – it's been a cause of my life for two decades." 2007 speech.[[12]]

The following quote is from Obama's 2008 campaign website:

"Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process." [[13]]

However, Obama has blatantly broken his promise to protect whistleblowers and make his administration the most transparent in history. According to a Columbia Journalism Review article, written in 2013, "Since 2009, the Obama administration has prosecuted more people as whistleblowers under the 1917 Espionage Act than all former presidents combined, a fact often rehashed in journalistic circles. In some of those cases, officials seized journalists’ phone and email records to use in their investigation. James Goodale, who was The New York Times’ chief counsel during Pentagon Papers coverage, has told CJR that Obama’s aggressive crackdown on whistleblowers is “antediluvian, conservative, backwards. Worse than Nixon. He thinks that anyone who leaks is a spy! I mean, it’s cuckoo.” [[14]]

Obama also lashed out at NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden saying "“Given the fact of an open investigation, I’m not going to dwell on Mr. Snowden’s actions or motivations,” Obama said during a speech at the Justice Department. “Our nation’s defense depends in part on the fidelity of those entrusted with our nation’s secrets. If any individual who objects to government policy can take it in their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will not be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign policy.” (2014)

He continued, saying Snowden’s leaks revealed “methods to our adversaries that could impact our operations in ways that we may not fully understand for years to come.” [[15]]

The Justice Department charges Snowden under the Espionage Act, forcing him to eventually take refuge in Russia. [[16]]