Remember the uproar from the mainstream media when presidential candidate Barack Obama used the U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan to attack President George W. Bush and John McCain? Oh, you don't remember? Perhaps that is because, unlike the MSM throwing a conniption fit over Mitt Romney criticizing an apologetic statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo which Obama himself later disavowed, the press was absolutely silent in its reactions to Obama's 2008 criticism. John Kaczynski of BuzzFeed found this video of candidate Obama and made this observation:
The Obama campaign hit Mitt Romney for using the “tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya” to “launch a political attack.” On a July 2008 appearance on CNN, then-Senator used the death of U.S. troops in Afghanistan as talking point to ding John McCain and President Bush for their support of the Iraq War.
Here are Obama's slams in which he invokes the troop deaths:
John McCain, who supported the war from the start, said we'd be greeted as liberators, has really focused on the tactical issues in Iraq. And the surge has no doubt reduced violence. And I think all Americans are thrilled by that.
But what George Bush and John McCain have missed consistently from the start of this process is the broader strategy.
You know, was it a wise thing to go in there and what are the costs and benefits of staying there indefinitely?
We're spending $10 billion a month there. We've spent $200 billion since the surge began. Meanwhile, the situation where -- you know, where the central front against terrorism should be taking place, in Afghanistan, the situation has deteriorated. And we had this brazen attack on a U.S. base where nine servicemen were killed.
Of course, no hand wringing by the MSM back then over Obama using the troop deaths to criticize administration policy. Especially notable was the silence of CNN since Obama's statement was made on CNN's Larry King Live.
Paging Don Lemon!
