President Barack Obama sought on Saturday to cast himself as a strong leader on foreign policy, highlighting a pullout from Iraq and the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as success stories.
Strong leader? Really?
While President Obama helped in important ways, the Libya War was led by Britain and France. At best, President Obama "led from behind."
And while President Obama did not actively try to lose Iraq, the Iraq War victory was led by President George W. Bush (over Obama's objections of achieving what he now says is his success story). At best, President Obama "led from before."
I'm certainly happy that President Obama didn't get in the way of others winning. And I even give him credit for helping to move them along (while worrying that he won't do enough to keep them moving forward). But however you want to describe it, being present when good things happen isn't "leading" by any stretch of the imagination.
