Media declare Afghanistan ‘Obama’s War’

Photo: army.mil

President Obama, who took office on Jan. 20, 2009, announced today that he’s sending 4,000 more troops to to a war in Afghanistan that began on Oct. 7, 2001. And the media declared it “Obama’s war” — with help from opinion leaders like U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who tweeted:

(via Politico, which also has Obama’s statement transcribed)

Here’s a TV news compilation of “Obama’s War” from Media Matters (with bonus snippet of Red River flooding):

Shortly after Obama’s inauguration, University of St. Thomas professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer told the Minnesota Independent he was very concerned about Obama’s quickly following through on campaign vows to ratchet up the war in Afghanistan. “There are enormous pressures on a new president to demonstrate that he is willing to use [the military], that he’s appropriately militaristic,” said Nelson-Pallmeyer, who came in second to Al Franken for the DFL Party endorsement for U.S. Senate in Minnesota last year. Many on the left are now accustomed to framing Iraq as “a bad war that took our eyes off a good one [in Afghanistan],” he said.