First, the video starts with a heavily edited couple of clips from Obama's August 28, 2014 press briefing. The author makes a number of dishonest edits.
- He edits out the question that Obama was answering,
- He makes an edit mid-sentence
- He leaves out most of the answer to the question.
A heavily edited Obama is only given about 26 seconds to make his case. The highlighted portions are what the author left in.
Q Do you need Congress’s approval to go into Syria?
THE PRESIDENT: I have consulted with Congress throughout this process. I am confident that as Commander-in-Chief I have the authorities to engage in the acts that we are conducting currently. As our strategy develops, we will continue to consult with Congress. And I do think that it will be important for Congress to weigh in, or that our consultations with Congress continue to develop so that the American people are part of the debate.Cutting off a person in the middle of a sentence is really dishonest. The person does not get to express their complete idea. Further the author had to have known what he was doing since he made the edits. Second, in an internet age, sourcing is easy. They could have easily provided unedited sources, like I am, but then they would have been caught breaking a sentence in half.
But I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet. I think what I’ve seen in some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we’re at than we currently are. And I think that’s not just my assessment, but the assessment of our military as well. We need to make sure that we’ve got clear plans, that we’re developing them. At that point, I will consult with Congress and make sure that their voices are heard. But there’s no point in me asking for action on the part of Congress before I know exactly what it is that is going to be required for us to get the job done.
He then provides a clip of Reagan that has parts edited out that he does not think are important. The heavily edited Reagan section is from his April 14, 1986 address on Libya.
My fellow Americans, at 7 o'clock this evening Eastern time, air and naval forces of the United States launched a series of strikes against the headquarters, terrorist facilities and military assets that support Muammar Qaddafi's subversive activities.
The attacks were concentrated and carefully targeted to minimize casualties among the Libyan people, with whom we have no quarrel.
From initial reports, our forces have succeeded in their mission. Several weeks ago, in New Orleans, I warned Colonel Qaddafi we would hold his regime accountable for any new terrorist attacks launched against American citizens. More recently, I made it clear we would respond as soon as we determined conclusively who was responsible for such attacks.So what words of Reagan did the author not find important? The author leaves out the parts about minimizing civilian casualties
On April 5 in West Berlin a terrorist bomb exploded in a nightclub frequented by American servicemen. Sgt. Kenneth Ford and a young Turkish woman were killed and 230 others were wounded, among them some 50 American military personnel. Evidence Is Now Conclusive
This monstrous brutality is but the latest act in Colonel Qaddafi's reign of terror. The evidence is now conclusive that the terrorist bombing of La Belle discotheque was planned and executed under the direct orders of the Libyan regime.
On March 25, more than a week before the attack, orders were sent from Tripoli to the Libyan People's Bureau in East Berlin to conduct a terrorist attack against Americans, to cause maximum and indiscriminate casualties. Libya's agents then planted the bomb.
On April 4, the People's Bureau alerted Tripoli that the attack would be carried out the following morning. The next day they reported back to Tripoli on the great success of their mission.
Our evidence is direct, it is precise, it is irrefutable. We have solid evidence about other attacks Qaddafi has planned against the United States' installations and diplomats and even American tourists. Other Attacks Prevented
Thanks to close cooperation with our friends, some of these have been prevented. With the help of French authorities, we recently aborted one such attack: a planned massacre using grenades and small arms of civilians waiting in lines for visas at an American Embassy.
Colonel Qaddafi is not only an enemy of the United States. His record of subversion and aggression against the neighboring states in Africa is well documented and well known. He has ordered the murder of fellow Libyans in countless countries. He has sanctioned acts of terror in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, as well as the Western Hemisphere. Today we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we shall do it again. It gives me no pleasure to say that, and I wish it were otherwise. Before Qaddafi seized power in 1969, the people of Libya had been friends of the United States, and I'm sure that today most Libyans are ashamed and disgusted that this man has made their country a synonym for barbarism around the world.
The Libyan people are a decent people caught in the grip of a tyrant. Actions Can't Be Ignored
To our friends and allies in Europe who cooperated in today's mission, I would only say you have the primary gratitude of the American people. Europeans who remember history understand better than most that there is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil. It must be the core of Western policy that there be no sanctuary for terror, and to sustain such a policy, free men and free nations must unite and work together.
Sometimes it is said that by imposing sanctions against Colonel Qaddafi or by striking at his terrorist installations, we only magnify the man's importance - that the proper way to deal with him is to ignore him. I do not agree. Long before I came into this office, Colonel Qaddafi had engaged in acts of international terror - acts that put him outside the company of civilized men. For years, however, he suffered no economic, or political or military sanction, and the atrocities mounted in number, as did the innocent dead and wounded.
And for us to ignore, by inaction, the slaughter of American civilians and American soldiers, whether in nightclubs or airline terminals, is simply not in the American tradition. When our citizens are abused or attacked anywhere in the world, on the direct orders of a hostile regime, we will respond, so long as I'm in this Oval Office. Self-defense is not only our right, it is our duty. It is the purpose behind the mission undertaken tonight - a mission fully consistent with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. Secure World Is Nearer
We believe that this pre-emptive action against his terrorist installations will not only diminish Colonel Qaddafi's capacity to export terror -it will provide him with incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior. I have no illusion that tonight's action will bring down the curtain on Qaddafi's reign of terror, but this mission, violent though it was, can bring closer a safer and more secure world for decent men and women. We will persevere.
This afternoon we consulted with the leaders of Congress regarding what we were about to do and why. Tonight, I salute the skill and professionalism of the men and women of our armed forces who carried out this mission. It's an honor to be your Commander in Chief.
We Americans are slow to anger. We always seek peaceful avenues before resorting to the use of force, and we did. We tried quiet diplomacy, public condemnation, economic sanctions and demonstrations of military force - none succeeded. Despite our repeated warnings, Qaddafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation, his relentless pursuit of terror.
He counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong. I warned that there should be no place on earth where terrorists can rest and train and practice their deadly skills. I meant it. I said that we would act with others if possible and alone if necessary to insure that terrorists have no sanctuary anywhere.
Tonight we have. Thank you, and God bless you.
The attacks were concentrated and carefully targeted to minimize casualties among the Libyan people, with whom we have no quarrel.He leaves out the part about several weeks of warning and investigation.
Several weeks ago, in New Orleans, I warned Colonel Qaddafi we would hold his regime accountable for any new terrorist attacks launched against American citizens. More recently, I made it clear we would respond as soon as we determined conclusively who was responsible for such attacks.He leaves out the part about Reagan explaining step by step how they knew Qaddafi was the culprit.
- March 25, 1986, Tripoli sent orders to the Libyan People's Bureau in East Berlin
- April 4, 1986 The Libyan People's Bureau alerted Tripoli
Our evidence is direct, it is precise, it is irrefutable. We have solid evidence about other attacks Qaddafi has planned against the United States' installations and diplomats and even American tourists.The author leaves out the part where Reagan says he will most likely not defeat Qaddafi. If Obama had done such a thing, you can imagine the outrage. No wonder he left it out.
We believe that this pre-emptive action against his terrorist installations will not only diminish Colonel Qaddafi's capacity to export terror -it will provide him with incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior. I have no illusion that tonight's action will bring down the curtain on Qaddafi's reign of terror, but this mission, violent though it was, can bring closer a safer and more secure world for decent men and women. We will persevere.Perhaps most telling, the author omits all references to diplomacy.
We Americans are slow to anger. We always seek peaceful avenues before resorting to the use of force, and we did. We tried quiet diplomacy, public condemnation, economic sanctions and demonstrations of military force - none succeeded. Despite our repeated warnings, Qaddafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation, his relentless pursuit of terror.A video like the one this author produced is not designed to prove anything. Actually proving things requires evidence and this author leaves out large chunks of evidence.
He could have compared apples to apples. Instead of comparing an off the cuff answer to a reporter, he could have given one of Obama's prepared addresses on Qaddafi. Obama had at least three.
Remarks by the President on the Situation in Libya - March 18, 2011
He could have even pulled other examples from that particular August briefing, but all these suggestions of what he could have done; imply a level of veracity that the author really does not have.
I could not find an example of Reagan answering a reporter on Congressional approval. It is worth noting that since the question was about Congressional authorization for Obama's war with ISIS, Obama originally tried to go it alone. After political pressure, Obama went to Congress for authorization, February 11, 2015. As of this blog post, it has been 23 weeks and three days since the President asked for Congressional authorization.
PS - In fairness, since the original video was likely posted September 5, 2014 to facebook, he did not have access to the President's briefing on attacking ISIS given five days later.
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