Ryan Streeter
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Now, of course, there's no causal connection here. The news of the CIA drone strikes that killed Atiyah Abd al-Rahman hadn't likely reached those queried in the latest daily Gallup tracker, but still - these two events show just how much voters see America's domestic health (or lack thereof) as a referendum on Obama's presidency.
Obama's approval stands at 38% and his disapproval 55%.
He's also racking up quite a record knocking off terrorists these days. So much so that John Sexton at Verum Serum offers this humorous take, suggesting that when Rick Perry wins the Presidency, he should appoint Obama as his CIA director. And then he lays out the Obama record:
- April 2009 – In the first few months of his administration, Obama sent a team of SEALs to kill Somali pirates who’d taken a ship’s captain hostage. Three pirates were shot in the head, one was captured alive.
- August 2009 – Drones kill militant Baitullah Mehsud along with his wife and family.
- October 2009 – Abu Ayyub al-Masri an Al Qaeda explosives expert is killed in Pakistan.
- March 2010 – Hussein al-Yemeni an Al Qaeda planner is killed by a drone strike.
- May 2010 – Saeed al-Masri, Al Qaeda’s 3rd in command is killed by drone strikes.
- June 2010 – Al Qaeda leader Abu Ahmed Tarkash is killed in a drone strike.
- April 2011 – Obama authorizes a SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden.
- June 2011 – Suspected senior Al Qaeda operative Ilyas Kashmiri is killed in a drone strike in Pakistan.
- August 2011 – Drones kill the aforementioned Atiyah Abd al-Rahman.
- Since taking office Obama’s drone strikes have reportedly killed at least 1,300 in Pakistan, most of them terrorists.
Pretty impressive stuff. And none of this will help Obama in November 2012.
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