State of the Union: Obama Presents Wars as Over, Seeks New War Authorization

Brags About Leaving Russian Economy 'in Tatters'

In a speech CNN analysts were describing as a “victory lap” for President Obama, claims of military success the world over where a key focus, with the president presenting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as “over,” even as he pushed for an authorization for a brand new war in Iraq.

Obama emphasized the goal of “degrading and ultimately destroying ISIS” in Iraq and Syria, offering few details on the continued escalation of the conflict, while insisting the lessons of past wars had been learned. He pressed Congress to give him a war authorization primarily as a “show of unity” against ISIS.

Obama also bragged about punitive sanctions against “Russian aggressions,” claiming the US policy had isolated President Putin and left the Russian economy “in tatters.”

“Protect our children’s information” was the slogan behind which President Obama sought to sell his “new” cybersecurity bill, which in broad strokes is just the CISPA bill that was rejected years ago for its attacks on privacy.

Obama did claim to have “strengthened privacy,” but with unspecified increases in “transparency” that he intends to release as part of a statement next month.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.