A kindergartener, compared to who runs the show in Middle East now.
> we didn't start any new wars
Only to see the age old religious ones reignite - Sunni IS, supported by disenfranchised Iraqi Sunnis vs Shia Iraqi government. That is effectively not only a religious war but also a civil one - Top IS brass is ex-Saddam's military.
> the US left Iraq
Should have finished the phrase: "The US left Iraq in a much, much worse state than when it first came."
I think you need to re-examine that one. I'd agree we didn't start any wars on the scale of Iraq, but we did continue with unnecessary and unsuccessful foreign interventions that have only served to further destabilize the Middle East (and bleeding into Europe...)
The two facets, on the surface, appear to be at such odds...
And don't forget dropping bombs everywhere. Including weddings and hospitals where Obama achieved first world occurrence of a Nobel peace prize winner bombing another.
As for dropping bombs, that ties into the drone policy and the real questions about collateral damage, how targets are selected and vetted, and the reality that in some ways targeted strikes are simply extra judicial killings.
Assessing Obama's legacy requires wading through ethical morasses and coming to understand situations that may be occluded by a lot of factors that are not visible to the public.
"Collateral damage" is dehumanizing doublespeak for the killing of civilians.
I don't want to live in any future that sees Obama's legacy in a positive light.
Don't tell a Libyan that; you might get punched in the face.
On the other hand, Bin Laden is dead, we didn't start any new wars, the US left Iraq, and several regimes changed to democracy in the Middle East without the US military getting heavily involved.
Obama's Justice Department has successfully shed light on patterns of police misconduct in several major cities and has mandated reforms. Yet, Obama and the DoJ ignored a landmark report on forensic science that could've exonerated thousands of wrongfully convicted and prevented wrongful convictions in the first place.
Net Neutrality won the day under Obama, yet he has done precious little to roll back pervasive surveillance and indeed has strengthened it.
In the fullness of time we'll see if Obama's legacy is ultimately viewed as negative or positive. And a lot of that depends on individual perceptions and what issues are important to you. Not to mention that feelings about his legacy will depend a lot on the quality of presidents succeeding.