Former US President Barack Obama (2008-2016) defended in an interview the orders he gave to kill people as “part of his job” and specifically mentioned the operation to defeat Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden. murder. legitimized invasions such as the one in Afghanistan.
“It was no surprise that part of my job was to get people to kill,” Obama says in the first part of his memoir, which he just presented entitled “A Promised Land.”
“For example, I do not regret ordering the operation that resulted in the death of Usama bin Laden because he had plans to kill innocent people, something he had done before,” Obama explained in an interview that promotes the book. at the Cadena Ser.
The former US president has thus referred to “necessary” wars, such as the one in Afghanistan or unnecessary ones, such as the one in Iraq. “I think going to Afghanistan and ending the Taliban and Al Qaeda after 9/11 was necessary. Even the necessary wars bring very terrible things and that’s something that weighs on my conscience. And that’s how it must be. “he explained. .
“Others further to the left, who were more progressive, said what needed to be done was to dismantle the military-industrial complex and I told them this would happen in the world I would like to have, where there were such military no surgeries would be necessary, ”he said.
“The truth is, if your son is on a plane and gets an attack and you find out that your government could have prevented that, whatever your ideology, you want that government to protect your son,” he added.
As for the success among young people of politicians who are clearly on Obama’s left, such as Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the former president has argued that during his tenure he “set some expectations (…) for new politicians, set the expectations even higher and so let’s make progress. “
With the new president of the United States, Joe Biden, “we will see those kinds of expectations again, but we have yet to rule.” “You have to accept the progress you can make at any point in history,” he added.
About his successor in office, Donald Trump, he has warned that “we would make a mistake if we thought Donald Trump is unique. There is (Viktor) Orbán in Hungary, (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan in Turkey, (Rodrigo) Duterte in the Philippines, (Vladimir) Putin in Russia, … and the right wing parties that are popping up all over Europe. “
“Inequality …, market forces, which are becoming more powerful, governments are in many cases unable to regulate them. All this has contributed to unrest and fear, to nationalism,” he said. “Invocation of nationalism, tribe, ethnicity, religion, chauvinism, a policy of strong men … is attractive when people are afraid,” he said.
Obama has also referred to one of the flagships of his two terms, health reform, and is talking about the memory of his mother sick with cancer. “The fact that I saw my mother with cancer and was concerned about whether or not she could pay the bills made me more aware of the fear and uncertainty felt by people who don’t have health insurance. The fact that I come from a humble family I wasn’t born rich, ”he recalled.