A headline that appeared on Fox Nation and RushLimbaugh.com falsely claimed that President Obama ripped the " 'triumphant' attitude of [the] U.S. Military"; but in the interview The Fox Nation cited, Obama was discussing Americans' detachment from the conflict in Afghanistan and explicitly excluded the military and military families when discussing the “triumphant sense about war.” Moreover, the article to which the post linked reported that Obama was criticizing former President Bush.
Fox Nation, Limbaugh's website falsely claimed “Obama rips 'triumphant' attitude of U.S. military”
Published
Fox Nation and RushLimbaugh.com: “Obama Rips 'Triumphant” attitude of U.S. Military"
From The Fox Nation, accessed December 15:
The Fox Nation post linked to a RushLimbaugh.com page that included the headline “Obama Rips 'Triumphant' Attitude of US Military (Gives Himself a B+)” with a transcript of a segment from the December 14 edition of Limbaugh's nationally syndicated radio show.
Obama discussed “triumphant sense about war” among those not in the military -- which he praised
In CBS interview, Obama explicitly excluded military and families from criticism. In an interview on CBS' 60 Minutes, Obama commented, “I think that one of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war.” He added: “And I think because it was detached from our day-to-day lives in so many ways -- unless you were a military family; unless you were one of those who were being deployed,” and that “there was a tendency to say, 'We can go in. We can kick some tail. You know, this is some glorious exercise.' ” [60 Minutes, 12/13/09]
Obama went on to praise “the extraordinary courage and commitment of our military.” Obama added, “But what we do have as a consequence of the extraordinary courage and commitment of our military, as well as the civilians who were deployed, is the possibility of making a more stable situation in Afghanistan, defeating Al Qaeda, and making the homeland safe that that if we stay focused on those missions then we can be successful.”
Linked article reports Obama was criticizing Bush for being “over-confident about the mission in Afghanistan.” The Fox Nation post linked to a Chicago Tribune blog post that reported: “The president also suggests that his predecessor was over-confident about the mission in Afghanistan, which the U.S. invaded to topple the Taliban from power after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 'One of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war,' Obama says in the interview. 'There was a tendency to say, 'We can go in. We can kick some tail. This is some glorious exercise.' When, in fact, this is a tough business.' ” [The Swamp, 12/13/09]