--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The military sensed weakness, exploited…" description: "\"The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/michael-hastings-6810_afghanistan_the-military-sensed-weakness-exploited-i_810643.jpg" --- # The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played… ![“The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior schtick that he pulls. But at the end of the day a reluctant warrior is still a warrior. Look at the drone strikes, the tripling of the war in…” quote by Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/michael-hastings-6810_afghanistan_the-military-sensed-weakness-exploited-i_810643.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/michael-hastings-6810_afghanistan_the-military-sensed-weakness-exploited-i_810643.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/721/michael-hastings-6810_afghanistan_the-military-sensed-weakness-exploited-i_810643.jpg) > “The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior schtick that he pulls. But at the end of the day a reluctant warrior is still a warrior. Look at the drone strikes, the tripling of the war in Afghanistan, and now Libya. I'm convinced that had Obama been in the Senate in 2003 he would have voted for the Iraq war. He's clearly easily convinced by his advisers and the Pentagon.” [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author argues that Obama’s foreign policy is aggressive, driven by advisers, and that he would have supported the Iraq war, despite a public image of reluctance. **In simple terms:** Obama’s policy is hawkish, influenced by advisors, contrary to his reluctant image. Key Takeaway Question the true motives behind foreign policy decisions. Themes politics foreign policy leadership media perception Mood cautious critical investigative Type political analytical When to use this quote - election campaigns - policy analysis - media commentary - government briefings Key Concepts realpolitik advisory influence public image military intervention Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports the assertion of Obama’s hawkishness? - How do advisors shape a leader’s public stance? A Different Perspective The claim may oversimplify complex decision‑making processes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afghanistan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan/) [Barack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barack/) [Consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistently/) [Convinced Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convinced-obama-252504/) [End of the day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-the-day/) [Foreign policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-policy/) [Iraq war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iraq-war/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [Obama Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obama-foreign-252505/) [Obama Senate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obama-senate-252506/) [Played Barack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/played-barack-252503/) [Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy/) [Reluctant Warrior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reluctant-warrior-252502/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Warrior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warrior/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) ## Related quotes > [I hate war, and I hate having to struggle. 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And he said it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/when-president-obama-was-in-the-senate-when-he-was-a-u-s-senator-he/) [Cathy McMorris Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/) > [Obama's foreign policy is strangely self-centered, focused on himself and the United States rather than on the conduct and needs of the nations the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/obama-s-foreign-policy-is-strangely-self-centered-focused-on-himself/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [Barack Obama, foreign policy wizard. I just have to laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/barack-obama-foreign-policy-wizard-i-just-have-to-laugh/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I think Barack Obama's foreign policy will be regarded more failure than success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/i-think-barack-obama-s-foreign-policy-will-be-regarded-more-failure/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [While I'm on foreign soil, I - I just don't feel that I should be speaking about differences with regards to myself and President…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitt-romney/while-i-m-on-foreign-soil-i-i-just-don-t-feel-that-i-should-be/) [Mitt Romney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitt-romney/) > [The Obama foreign policy, in broad strokes, has been a disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-obama-foreign-policy-in-broad-strokes-has-been-a-disaster/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“If Mamaw's second God was the United States of America, then many people in my community were losing something akin to a religion. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/if-mamaw-s-second-god-was-the-united-states-of-america-then-many/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [The international community lies at the center of the Obama foreign policy. Unfortunately, it is a fiction. There is no such thing. Different countries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-international-community-lies-at-the-center-of-the-obama-foreign/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [The frightening aspect is that it's part of a larger effort from the Pentagon to tear down the wall between public affairs and propaganda,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-frightening-aspect-is-that-it-s-part-of-a-larger-effort-from-the/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If the thumbnail version of the Iraq war was that Bush lied about WMD, the thumbnail version of Obama's war in Afghanistan is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-the-thumbnail-version-of-the-iraq-war-was-that-bush-lied-about-wmd/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/inside-the-white-house-there-were-always-extreme-amounts-of-doubt/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [By the time of Andi Parhamovich death, I had already grown skeptical of the Iraq war. What her death made me realize was what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/by-the-time-of-andi-parhamovich-death-i-had-already-grown-skeptical/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) ## More by Michael Hastings > [I have a deep-seated skepticism about the morality of violence. Violence is almost always morally corrosive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/i-have-a-deep-seated-skepticism-about-the-morality-of-violence/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [The humanitarian argument is so selective I find it difficult to swallow. It's not even so much about the choice as to where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-humanitarian-argument-is-so-selective-i-find-it-difficult-to/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If Bill O'Reilly is calling you a far-left critic, in my book, no matter what your political persuasion is, that's probably - that probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-bill-o-reilly-is-calling-you-a-far-left-critic-in-my-book-no/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [I'm post-cynical on this stuff. I look at the El Salvador model as the glory days: Why don't we just fund the death squads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/i-m-post-cynical-on-this-stuff-i-look-at-the-el-salvador-model-as-the/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Whether or not Afghanistan would be a peaceful nation-state had we not gone into Iraq I doubt. Afghanistan is going to be Afghanistan, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/whether-or-not-afghanistan-would-be-a-peaceful-nation-state-had-we/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [One of their major initiatives was getting all officers on Facebook. So the question is, why are these people who are there to train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/one-of-their-major-initiatives-was-getting-all-officers-on-facebook/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [It was interesting watching the Afghanistan war review deliberations, this three-month process where Barack Obama did the most thorough foreign policy review ever by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/it-was-interesting-watching-the-afghanistan-war-review-deliberations/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/inside-the-white-house-there-were-always-extreme-amounts-of-doubt/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [The State Department is essentially... I was going to use the word useless. But I don't know if that's correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-state-department-is-essentially-i-was-going-to-use-the-word/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If someone tells you something is off the record, I don't print it. If they don't tell me something is off the record, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-someone-tells-you-something-is-off-the-record-i-don-t-print-it-if/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [If you polled the military in Afghanistan as to how many think we should be there or not, the numbers would probably be similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/if-you-polled-the-military-in-afghanistan-as-to-how-many-think-we/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [Afghanistan would have been difficult enough without Iraq. Iraq made it impossible. The argument that had we just focused on Afghanistan we'd now be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/afghanistan-would-have-been-difficult-enough-without-iraq-iraq-made/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [“Her name has been released to the press. Her photograph is released, too. I want to talk to the press about it. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/her-name-has-been-released-to-the-press-her-photograph-is-released/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [The frightening aspect is that it's part of a larger effort from the Pentagon to tear down the wall between public affairs and propaganda,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/the-frightening-aspect-is-that-it-s-part-of-a-larger-effort-from-the/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [An information operations team was sent to Afghanistan to conduct various psychological operations on the Afghans and Taliban. The team was then asked not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/an-information-operations-team-was-sent-to-afghanistan-to-conduct/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) [Explore all 97 Michael Hastings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) ## More Afghanistan quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [In 2001, we were told that the war in Afghanistan was a feminist mission. The marines were liberating Afghan women from the Taliban. Can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-2001-we-were-told-that-the-war-in-afghanistan-was-a-feminist/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-levin/the-terrorist-attacks-of-september-11th-and-the-courageous-actions-of/) [Carl Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-levin/) > [According to a recent Harvard study, $6 trillion, when you include the ongoing healthcare expenses for our wounded soldiers, which is the least they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-a-recent-harvard-study-6-trillion-when-you-include-the/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [You don't bargain with terrorists. You don't appease terrorists. And anybody who believes that this is about something we've done has to ask themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chertoff/you-don-t-bargain-with-terrorists-you-don-t-appease-terrorists-and/) [Michael Chertoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chertoff/) > [“I stood with my mom in the cemetery. She felt terrible pain. My grandmother is with God. My mom has to continue living. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/i-stood-with-my-mom-in-the-cemetery-she-felt-terrible-pain-my/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [The most successful cultural diplomacy strategy integrates people-to-people or arts/culture/media-to-people interactions into the basic business of diplomacy. The programs in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Iran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-p-schneider/the-most-successful-cultural-diplomacy-strategy-integrates-people-to/) [Cynthia P. Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-p-schneider/) > [Because Iran understands Afghanistan far better than Americans do, making Iran a partner in a long-term effort to transform Afghan agriculture makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/because-iran-understands-afghanistan-far-better-than-americans-do/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Thousands of Americans have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq upholding their oaths and defending this nation. Chelsea Manning broke her oath and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/thousands-of-americans-have-given-their-lives-in-afghanistan-and-iraq/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [I have been to Afghanistan many times, even before the Taliban collapsed. I was fascinated by the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir-khan/i-have-been-to-afghanistan-many-times-even-before-the-taliban/) [Kabir Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir-khan/) > [There has been sort of, if you will, a moral interventionism on the part of the United States trying to reshape countries in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/there-has-been-sort-of-if-you-will-a-moral-interventionism-on-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The legal system in Afghanistan is very immature and porous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-graham/the-legal-system-in-afghanistan-is-very-immature-and-porous/) [Lindsey Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-graham/) [Browse all 1,159 Afghanistan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior schtick that he pulls. But at the end of the day a reluctant warrior is still a warrior. Look at the drone strikes, the tripling of the war in Afghanistan, and now Libya. I'm convinced that had Obama been in the Senate in 2003 he would have voted for the Iraq war. 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