With fewer than 60 days until the election, the atrocities committed by Muslim militants in Libya assure us that national security and foreign policy will become significant campaign issues. Rather than discuss the Obama administration’s clumsy handling of the increasing extremism and violence associated with the so-called “Arab Spring,” the media has made it clear that it would rather discuss whether Mitt Romney committed a gaffe by discussing the issue.
From a purely political perspective, the first murder of a U.S. ambassador abroad since 1979 is a major blow to Obama’s mystique as a strong, decisive leader on national security. The shocking incident creates the impression of a United States helplessly victimized by world events which seem to be spinning increasingly out of our control.
Amidst this chaos, rather than ask how the challenger’s foreign policy platform might address the growing tensions in the region, at a Romney press conference the media instead coordinated to ensure that Romney was forced to defend his previous comments about Obama’s “apology” to protesters in Egypt. It’s so transparent, it’s infuriating.
A year ago, the media happily gloated about the President’s “victory” over former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and praised Obama’s “leading from behind” strategy. Now that the Obama Doctrine appears to be unraveling, the media is doing its best to frame the Libya debacle in terms of whether Romney’s response was “Presidential,” rather than whether the President’s policies are failing. That’s good news for the Obama camp, but the American electorate deserves better.
While the handling of Libya is the most blatant example in recent memory, the media has subtly displayed its bias in its coverage (or lack of coverage) of other national security issues.
For example, while appalling troop casualty milestones in Iraq were announced with great fanfare under President Bush, the rapidly increasing death tolls in Afghanistan rarely receive more than a mention. Also, it’s not hard to remember a time when almost every aspect of Bush’s national security policy (Guantanamo, wiretapping, rendition, military commissions, etc) was treated as nearly criminal… except when President Obama decided to adopt the exact same policies.
Nevertheless, no matter how hard the media tries, this election will be about an abysmal economy and a deteriorating national security position, not the punditry’s imagined gaffes.
