Obama's Muslim remark: How many countries did ex-US prez bomb?

It’s a genuine case of Phas Gaye re, Obama. The former United States president’s remarks while his ‘good friend’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on American soil for his first state visit has set off a political firestorm in India.Several Union ministers as well as BJP leaders have derided comments made by Obama, with some of them even accusing the former US president of being hypocritical. Even the former commissioner of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Johnnie Moore said that the American leader should spend his energy complimenting India more than criticising it.During Modi’s state visit to the US last week, Obama in an interview to CNN said the issue of the “protection of the Muslim minority in a majority-Hindu India” would be worth raising in his meeting with US president Joe Biden.Obama said that without such protection there was “a strong possibility that India at some point starts pulling apart“.The former US president’s remarks were slammed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, saying: “Perhaps six Muslim-dominated countries were bombed due to him (Obama). More than 26,000 bombs were dropped – from Syria and Yemen to Saudi (Arabia) and Iraq.”She added, “How will people trust his allegations?”But, is Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement correct? Did US under Obama drop 26,000 bombs on different countries?Obama’s rain of bombsBarack Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, but the former American leader also acknowledged that there were times when military force is necessary. In fact, he said the same when he accepted his award, saying there could be instances when war is “morally justified.”The Obama administration did order airstrikes on different countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Syria.A report by the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), an American think tank specialising in US foreign policy and international relations, in 2016 revealed that the US dropped an average of 72 bombs every day — the equivalent of three an hour.The CFR report, which came as Obama was exiting office, revealed that 26,171 bombs were dropped on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan during the year. A similar study looking at 2015 revealed that the Obama administration had rained down a total of 23,144 bombs across countries – the maximum being 22, 110 in Iraq and Syria while fighting the Islamic State terrorists.[caption id="attachment_12792372" align="alignnone" width="640"]

Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption]The report stated that these estimate were “undoubtedly low, considering reliable data is only available for airstrikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, and a single “strike,” according to the Pentagon’s definition, can involve multiple bombs or munitions.”Another news outlet, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, in a separate report had revealed that Obama in his two terms authorised 563 strikes, targeting Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. These strikes led to the death of 384 to 807 civilians.The report published by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism added that these strikes were 10 times more than those authorised by Obama’s predecessor, George W Bush. The report stated – the Democratic president authorised more strikes in his first year in office than Bush ordered during his entire presidency.But what was the reason behind the bombs on these countries? In Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama launched these attacks as a way to strike down Taliban militants. In Yemen, his administration significantly ramped-up the use of armed drones to take down the Al Qaeda threat.US drones in Somalia were targeting militants associated with al Shabaab, a terrorist network that perpetrated a high-profile attack last year at a mall in Kenya. In 2014, Obama citing a humanitarian crisis and potential threats to American interests had ordered airstrikes.At the time of his leaving the White House, several experts questioned his legacy. The Los Angeles Times, quoting Jon Alterman, a Middle East specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “The whole concept of war has changed under Obama. He got the country out of war at least as we used to see it. We’re now wrapped up in all these different conflicts, at a low level and with no end in sight.”The New York Times in a 2016 report titled ‘For Obama, an Unexpected Legacy of Two Full Terms at War’ wrote that the American leader had been at war longer than Bush, or any other American president. The newspaper further stated that Obama would ‘leave behind an improbable legacy as the only president in American history to serve two complete terms with the nation at war.’Also read: Obama’s bogus narrative on Muslims in India and vile targeting of Modi undermines American efforts to woo IndiaRajnath Singh, others question ObamaIt wasn’t just Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who criticised Obama’s remarks against the Modi government and the rights of Muslims in the country.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday that said that the American leader needs to remember India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudev Katumbhkam,’ which translates to “the world is one family.”

Questioning Obama, he said, “Obama ji should not forget that India is the only country which considers all the people living in the world as family members… He should also think about himself as to how many Muslim countries he has attacked.”Also read: Ilhan Omar to Barack Obama attack India with fount of propaganda, drought of factsUnion Minister Hardeep Puri also slammed the former US president for his remarks on India, saying: “India is not only the largest democracy but the mother of democracy – there is a lot of ways to way out of frustration but facts backfire.”And BJP leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi added, “Today, all the sections of the society are developing. Today riots like 1984 are not happening in the country.”With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.