Barack Obama “has not had a second thought” about the drone strikes that are causing untold numbers of civilian casualties as the US tries to beat back terrorist insurgencies in the Middle East, according to a new interview with the president and top aides.
The president also slammed European and Arab allies as too often acting like “free riders” in expecting America to solve problems in the region, while some of them fail to play their part.
He partly blamed the UK and France for what he privately refers to as the “shit show” now unfolding in Libya.
In a wide-ranging series of conversations on foreign policy, published by the Atlantic magazine on Thursday, Obama:
• Describes America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia as “complicated”, and blasts its record on regional politics and women’s rights, while accusing the kingdom of encouraging Islamic fundamentalism in countries such as Indonesia
• Reveals he warned that the “special relationship” with Britain would be over if David Cameron did not raise military spending
• Declares himself “very proud” of his 2013 decision to pullback from a military attack on the government of Bashar al-Assad after Syria crossed the “red line” over chemical weapons • Explains why he believes America should develop a “resilience” to the long-term threat of terrorism instead of engaging in panic, hype and militarism
Obama defends his strategy of pulling the US sharply back from its expected role of the omnipotent, proactive world military leader with the swashbuckling rhetoric.
“Where am I controversial? When it comes to the use of military power,” Obama told the Atlantic.
“There’s a playbook in Washington that presidents are supposed to follow ... [that] prescribes ... militarized responses. Where America is directly threatened, the playbook works. But the playbook can also be a trap,” he said.
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