President Barack Obama is pushing an isolationist return-to-home foreign policy in his latest TV attack-ad, entitled “Rebuilding.”
Obama will likely push that theme during Monday’s foreign-policy debate, partly because support for the anti-jihad campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen further — especially among late-deciding swing voters — since Obama took office in 2009.
“Obama ended the Iraq war. Mitt Romney would have kept 30,000 troops there, and called bringing them home ‘tragic,'” says the 32-second ad.
“Obama has brought 30,000 soldiers back from Afghanistan, and has a responsible plan to end the war. … It is time to stop fighting over there, and start rebuilding here,” the ad concludes.
The ad does not say if the president wants to win the Afghanistan campaign, which began after al-Qaida’s jihadis used Afghanistan to launch the Sept. 11 attack on New York.
Obama pulled troops out of Iraq in 2011 after Iraq leaders declined a proposed long-term strategic deal. The draft deal, however, collapsed after Obama said the proposed U.S. back-force in Iraq had to be fewer than 4,000 troops.
The withdrawal came after U.S. forces had won a hard-fought to campaign to cripple the various groups that were attacking the elected Iraqi government.
Since then, Iraq’s government has come under increasing pressure from the radical leadership in neighboring Iran.
In contrast, large U.S. forces stayed in Germany and Japan after World War II, helping keep the peace and spurring economic development and trade.
Obama’s campaign aides are pushing the same come-home themes.
“New ad highlights @BarackObama’s strong & steady leadership on foreign policy, under which a decade of war is ending,” said an 8:32 a.m. Oct. 22 tweet from Ben LaBolt, spokesman for the Obama campaign.
“Pretty simple: @BarackObama is ending a decade of war and has a plan for nation building. Romney would take us back,” said an 9:55 a.m. EDT tweet from Brad Woodhouse, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.
“Debate Prep: A clear choice on ending our wars overseas–and investing more here at home,” he said in an earlier 8:51 a.m. EDT tweet.
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