Fighting Terrorism Will Help President Obama Win In 2012

I am not your run-of-the-mill liberal Democrat, in fact with the exception of President Obama - I haven't voted for a democratic candidate for President since Jimmy Carter. That said, I believe people like me are the reason Barack Obama won his race in 2008 and he is going to need us again - if he is to be reelected in 2012.

When the President gave the order to take out Osama bin Laden, his stock with me and other independent voters went up dramatically. I believe President Obama should continue to go after terrorists and bring them to justice one way or another. If the President is looking for a strategy to win big again in 2012, he needs to bring the terrorist enemies of this great nation to justice.

No War Powers Act Required For Libya (President Obama)

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama told the Congress that implementation of the "War Powers Act" is not required because of the limited nature of US participation in the conflict in Libya. The President told congressional leaders that NATO is taking the primary role in this conflict, with the United States only operating as a supporting partner.

I believe President Obama should ask for a declaration of war against Libya, if he continues to use US military and intelligence resources in what from all practical appearances is a war. Ever since Vietnam, I get concerned when a President of the United States uses fancy wording to not call a war what it really is.

Obama In Hot Water Over Libyan Military Action

Several leaders, on both political sides, are urging President Barack Obama to go to Congress and get a war declaration against Libya. Even as the President continues to say that US military activity in Libya is not a war, to most Americans and congressional leaders it is certainly beginning to look that way. To date, there has been no official war declaration offered by the President or passed by either chamber of the Congress.

I am old enough to remember the last conflict the United States refused to label as a war. That conflict was in Vietnam and we all know how that eventually turned out. The US Congress is doing President Obama a favor by trying to get the entire country behind military action.  The President should obtain a war declaration or get this country completely out of Libya.

Economy Is Biggest Issue Against Obama Reelection

In 2012, Barack Obama will be running for reelection as the President of the United States. As things stand right now, President Obama should win easily against the current GOP field of candidates - but a dark horse candidate could emerge and slow down his glide to victory in 2012.

Another thing that is working against a second term for Barack Obama is the slow US economy that just seems to not want to get back in gear again. Sure some Americans are seeing more money head into their wallets each week, but most are still scared that another recession is just around the corner. The President is doing all he can to improve the US economy, but this nation is a big ship that does not turn on a dime.

Water Boarding Did Not Lead To Bin Laden's Death

The GOP has been working overtime to convince the American people that it was "water boarding" that lead to the death of Osama bin Laden. While it is true that the person who gave up bin Laden's courier was indeed water boarded during the Bush administration, he did not give up that information until months later when his captors (US) started treating him better. For Dick Cheney and others in the GOP to wrongly contend that it was the water boarding that lead to Osama bin Laden's death is completely false. Even at the end of the Bush administration, they determined that advanced interrogation techniques (torture) were not working - so they abandoned them.

Unlike President George W. Bush who has taken the high road since leaving the White House, his Vice-President Dick Cheney continues to try and rewrite history when it comes to the effectiveness of torture. On this issue, President Obama was correct in ending water boarding and other forms of advanced interrogation techniques, because he knows as President Bush learned later, that it's easier to get information from captives who are treated humanly, rather than using torture which causes them to say anything just to stop the pain. It's time for the GOP to stop lying to the American people by saying that it was torture that lead to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.