When it comes to intelligence briefings, Obama isn’t even voting ‘present’
Marc Thiessen asks a good question in the Washington Post today: Why is President Obama skipping more than half of his daily intelligence meetings?
Writes Thiessen:
Clint Eastwood re-enacts a scene from the president's daily intelligence briefings. (AP Photo)
President Obama is touting his foreign policy experience on the campaign trail, but startling new statistics suggest that national security has not necessarily been the personal priority the president makes it out to be. It turns out that more than half the time, the commander in chief does not attend his daily intelligence meeting.
The Government Accountability Institute examined President Obama’s schedule from the day he took office until mid-June 2012, to see how often he attended his Presidential Daily Brief (PDB) — the meeting at which he is briefed on the most critical intelligence threats to the country. During his first 1,225 days in office, Obama attended his PDB just 536 times — or 43.8 percent of the time. During 2011 and the first half of 2012, his attendance became even less frequent — falling to just over 38 percent. By contrast, Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush almost never missed his daily intelligence meeting.
Thiessen relays a comment by a spokesman for the National Security Council, who points out that Obama still receives the information from the briefing daily. But, as Thiessen points out, the administration has portrayed Obama’s participation in these meetings as evidence of his deep “exploration of foreign policy and intelligence issues.” That’s rather at odds with the reality that he skipped almost 700 of these meetings in three and a half years.
And, of course, we would like for our president to get into just such an exploration of these issues with his resident experts on foreign policy and intelligence. Thiessen cites former security officials who say the meetings are an important way for Obama and his security advisers to ask questions of one another. When the president isn’t there, that isn’t happening.
This is certainly of a piece with the reporting from Bob Woodward’s latest book that “gaps” in presidential leadership mean, at times, “no one is running Washington.”
Of course, attending these meetings would make it harder for the president to fulfill one of his other priorities in, ahem, unprecedented fashion.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
394 comments Add your comment
getalife
September 11th, 2012
11:05 am
Here is the Politico link drudgey posted:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/80998.html
cons want to boycott this businessman for showing patriotism.
cons can never lie about being patriotic again.
Just another reason to marginalize cons as kooks and keep moving forward.
wow
September 11th, 2012
11:07 am
i believe most conservatives would welcome a terrorist attack on this country because it would make OBAMA look weak.
wow
September 11th, 2012
11:11 am
@getalife
if its not about the color of his skin then what can it be? the intense hatred by rightwing christians is scary
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
11:16 am
I’m a right-wing Christian, wow. I don’t hate Mr. Obama. I’m not going to vote for him. I don’t agree with his policies. They aren’t all bad, and I don’t think that they are, nor do most (admittedly, probably not all) of my conservative friends. The fact that you try to label me as a hater insults me, but the fact that you are doing so with ZERO evidence makes you look weak. You would be wise to refrain from such drivel.
getalife
September 11th, 2012
11:17 am
Let it be known that even on 9/11 cons can’t refrain form attacking our President.
wow
September 11th, 2012
11:20 am
@david
its amazing that KYLE will let any derogatory coment about OBAMA go unchallenged no matter how dirty and gutter it is.
wow
September 11th, 2012
11:21 am
@getalife
they have to try to take attention off the sucessful BIN LADEN MISSION…like KYLES DOING with this asinine column
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
11:22 am
wow @ 11:07
OK, Charles Manson believed things too. That didn’t make them true. Your statement about you believing conservtives want another successful terrorist attack just to make Obama look bad is just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve read on this forum since I’ve been on here. I’m not angry with you. I feel sorry for you that you have blinded yourself into thinking that way. You are obviously someone who looks only for truth as you want to see it, and not as it really is. A shame, really.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
September 11th, 2012
11:24 am
If you are going to blame Bush rather than his predecessor for the events that led up to 9/11, will you then also blame Mr. Obama for the present economic condition of this country?
You don’t have a clear understanding of timelines. The market collapsed in 2008, W announced “this sucker could go down” in 2008, W began bailing out banks in 2008, economies across the world began reeling in 2008.
The highjackers didn’t step foot on those airplanes until September 11, 2001.
wow
September 11th, 2012
11:24 am
If the BIN LADEN mission had failed, who do you think would have gotten the blame? OBAMA of course. Rightwing columnists would have a field calling him weak on defense. But to their chagrin it worked. now we have columns like this to distract us from facts.
getalife
September 11th, 2012
11:27 am
David R. Boag, DDS ,
Your party attacked our President for getting obl. Your party failed to unite after a collapse and planned to get our President for this instead.
We feel sorry for you and cons can never ever claim to be patriotic again.
Own it.
getalife
September 11th, 2012
11:27 am
election.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
September 11th, 2012
11:28 am
Cons want to say that the actual damage – the reeling, the tears, the American freak-out – all happened in 2000 while Clinton was still President.
Cons can’t accept responsibility for ANYTHING.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
September 11th, 2012
11:30 am
Carter’s failed mission haunted him in the 1980 campaign. Same thing would have happened to BO in the 2012 campaign.
But things turned out positively. Poor Cons.
Junior Samples
September 11th, 2012
11:44 am
Kyle, this article is pitiful, and quite petty. Is this all you have now ? Can’t say Bin Laden is still alive, so he skipped class?
Back to the drawing board…
Del
September 11th, 2012
12:09 pm
Pennypacker,
I guess I could give you some credit for tenacity but you’re trying to win an argument that you’ve already lost. While I’m speculating on the context of Panetta’s and Hillary’s argument that persuaded Obama to green light the operation, it’s common knowledge that Biden and Jarrett we’re admonishing him against it. Biden has publicly admitted that he advised against it. It’s also common knowledge that the intelligence basis for executing the operation had been gathered long before Obama set foot in the Oval Office. It was a cell phone trace from bin Ladin’s courier that confirmed OBL’s location in Pakistan. This was not a courageous decision on Obama’s part he had no other choice but to approve the mission. Had he not have done so, word would have leaked out and he would of had a serious political problem and he knew it. As for how SEAL team Six was identified as the operations SOCOM unit and the publicized meeting that took place at Ft. Campbell that was widely reported in the media and it’s amazing that you missed it.
MadMax
September 11th, 2012
12:12 pm
Hard to attend those meetings and still attend those fundraisers. You just have to set your priorities and it fits in well with his “I am smarter than you” attitude
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
12:13 pm
Finn,
If you think that the planning of 9/11 and the intelligence to be gathered regarding a mission like began in 2000, then it is YOU who don’t understand, Finn. Planning a mission like that takes more than 2 years of research.
Understand, just like I will agree that not everything that has happened to cause our economic issues is Obama’s fault, nor was 9/11 all Bush’s fault. I LIKED how Bush handled our domestic security after the event. At the time, even my liberal friends were saying that Bush was better-suited for handling a tragedy like that than Al Gore was. And you can’t blame Bush for all the failures of his intelligence community. Remember, until the commission changed things, the different bureaus were restricted from being able to talk with one another about many things. But Bush was the captain of the ship at e time, if you will. I don’t blame him fully, but it did happen on his watch, and good ship captains take responsibility for what happened on their boat when they are in charge.
That’s where Obama is SORELY lacking. EVERYTHING is ALWAYS someone else’s fault. So if you want to be critical of conservatives for not blaming Bush for 9/11, you must then make Obama accountable–at least in good part–for the economic mess we continue to experience, and the latest job report only confirms.
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
12:14 pm
Getalife, can you show us where that is true?
Del
September 11th, 2012
12:15 pm
Amusing these moronic posted comments about Kyle’s blog. This is a conservative forum if the topics and discourse bother you there’s a place on the AJC Web site where you can hang out and probably feel more at home.
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
12:22 pm
Del,
To be fair, Obama DID have a choice NOT to move forward. Bill Clinton had such an opportunity, and failed to act years prior to 9/11. Give Obama some creedit. He OK’s the op, he owns it. Doesn’t mean he gets ALL the credit, but he does get some.
Having said that, our points about HOW we obtained the intelligence being using methods that libs decry, those cries are silenced when they would do damage to their candidate. If liberals really stood for what they believe, they would loudly exclaim that they oppose that kind of intelligence-gathering and decry the use of the information gleaned from it. But without it, the mission never happens, and Obama can’t even make that choice.
Live by the sword, kill by the sword, dies by the sword. The sword cuts both ways.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
September 11th, 2012
12:24 pm
I refuse to believe Americans are stupid and greedy enough to vote for Obozo twice.
Is it okay for President Obama to skip some daily intelligence briefings … – Washington Post (blog) | FindLuckyPlaces
September 11th, 2012
12:26 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Del
September 11th, 2012
12:34 pm
David R.DDS,
I do give him credit but no where near what the left has given and I do take issue with the administrations leaking of SEAL Team Six’s identity and the subsequent grandstanding for political motives. That to me is more than just disgusting.
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
12:37 pm
Well, we saw how the delegates at the DNC voted on changing the platform, but that didn’t matter, because the Democrat bigwigs know better than the people. THEY know what is good for us. We are just idiots. For crying out loud, they even think their own delegates are idiots!
http://www.youtube.com/#/watch?v=09cEwnivdr0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D09cEwnivdr0&gl=US
That moment would be hilarious if it wasn’t so scary! Heck, even that conservative stalwart Anderson Cooper recognizes the ignorance of truth, saying Debbie Wasserman Schultz moust be living in an alternative universe!
I think that moment at the DNC really exposed the fact that for progressives, the end justifies the means–truth be damned–even if they only THINK or BELIEVE that they know that the end will be better as a result. The reality of the result isn’t even important.
These are the people in charge now. Scary!
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
September 11th, 2012
12:39 pm
Osama tried to blow up the World Trade Center did blow up an embassy in Africa and the USS Cole on Clinton’s watch. If he had gotten him, then 9/11 would not have happened. Yet, all the vitriol is put on Bush.
Yes, the economic “collapse” happened on Bush’s watch, but what we blame on Obama is the lack of a recovery. President’s in the 20’s and 30’s often did nothing in the face of a recession, and America pulled out of it in two years or so. The American economy works when conditions are right for business to grow and expand. Obama arrogantly did things his way, ignoring the script provided by previous presidents, on recovery.
We probably would have fared better had Obama done nothing, than what he did, full bore spending to fill in the gaps and over regulation of business and banks. The recession may have been more severe, but the recovery would have been more robust and quicker. The spending did not work and ran up the debt, and his regulations, hampered business, closed small banks, that normally loan money to small businesses. His focus on green energy and healthcare in the time of a recession was not what we needed him to focus on, jobs and recovery. That is what we blame him for, refusing to seek tried and true remedies, misplaced priorities, and no leadership. He deserves to be dismissed.
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
12:40 pm
Del,
That is a fair criticism of Mr. Obama and the actions of those under his command. Loose lips sink ships. Unfortunately, the ships that will sink as a result will likely be ones that sail AFTER this president leaves office.
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average
September 11th, 2012
1:05 pm
@I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin…
September 10th, 2012
12:26 pm
Well, you have to have intelligence or at least be intelligent and I’m thinking they won’t let obozo in that room.
They probably hand him a set of golf clubs if he insists.
***********************************************************************************
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average.
GeeDubya needed the intelligence briefings.
Obama was admitted to Harvard Law School, it’s hard to imagine his
GPA was much lower than a 3.3.
SBinF
September 11th, 2012
1:27 pm
“SBinF are you suggesting that the moves being made by Al Quaida were not being made before 2000 und Clinton’s watch?”
Bush received actionable intelligence time and time again. He and his security team ignored it. Did you happen to catch the NYT article this morning?
It’s almost laughable that anyone on the right would want to bring up 9/11 and blame. No amount of revision will change the facts.
And the worse part is that Bush and co. took 9/11 and used it as a springboard for the misguided war in Iraq, further destabilizing the Middle East. I don’t understand how anyone from the Bush administration has any credibility whatsoever to discuss foreign policy. Condolezza “mushroom cloud” Rice looked like an absolute clown at the RNC. Until she owns up to the part she played in selling incorrect intelligence, I have little to consider on the rest of her career.
David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
2:09 pm
SBinF,
I noted that you didn’t answer my question.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
September 11th, 2012
2:34 pm
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average.
And he was “man” enough to release them. What do the Deceiver in Chief’s transcripts show…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………. Not man enough to put them out there.
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average
September 11th, 2012
5:30 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout – Vote American
September 11th, 2012
12:24 pm
I refuse to believe Americans are stupid and greedy enough to vote for Obozo twice.
***********************************************************************************
Yeah, and we couldn’t believe Americans were stupid and brain dead enough to vote
for GeeDubYa twice.
But they did.
So Obama desire the same consideration.
GeeDubYa was no GENIUS.
When the planes hit the twin towers GeeDubYa says
his apparent lack of reaction to the first news of the Sept. 11 2001
attacks was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.
That lie was half way around the world before it put its boots on.
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average
September 11th, 2012
5:43 pm
@David R. Boag, DDS
September 11th, 2012
12:14 pm
Getalife, can you show us where that is true?
*************************************************************
The Daily News
Republicans wrong to attack Obama on Bin Laden
MIKE LUPICA
Monday, April 30, 2012
The political party of the “Mission Accomplished” banner on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in May 2003, the party that gave us George W. Bush as an adorable dressup fighter pilot, now accuses Barack Obama of “spiking the ball” because he runs an ad about the order to take out Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.
Are they kidding? If it had been Bush who ordered the hit on Bin Laden, the Republicans would have wanted to make the day it happened into an instant NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average
September 11th, 2012
5:46 pm
@getalife
September 11th, 2012
11:27 am
David R. Boag, DDS ,
Your party attacked our President for getting obl. Your party failed to unite after a collapse and planned to get our President for this instead.
We feel sorry for you and cons can never ever claim to be patriotic again.
Own it.
****************************************************************
They OWN IT.
The Daily News
Republicans wrong to attack Obama on Bin Laden
MIKE LUPICA
Monday, April 30, 2012
Are they kidding? If it had been Bush who ordered the hit on Bin Laden, the Republicans would have wanted to make the day it happened into an instant NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
They OWN IT.
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average
September 11th, 2012
5:52 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout – Vote American
September 11th, 2012
9:03 am
The smartest thing Obozo has done is continue each and every one of Our President Bush’s anti-terror programs, including keeping Gitmo open for business
******************************************************************************
There is a letter missing in this election ……………
GEEDUBYA
GEEDUBYA
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average
September 11th, 2012
5:57 pm
Condi Rice lied during a 911 hearing.
She said she could not remember if GEEDUBYA was told in a Presidential
Daily Brief (PDB) that there were terrorists cells in the U. S.
Yeah, Geedubya knew there were terrorists in the U.S.
I guess he WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION THAT DAY.
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average - He needed to attend the PDB.
September 11th, 2012
6:07 pm
Old I’m still mad I lost because I picked Sara Palin for VP wounded
warrior John McCain said on FOX today Obama’s foreign policy is dismal.
Sour grapes………
BTW, Romney did not even mention in his speech 911, Afghanistan or Iraq.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average - He needed to attend the PDB.
September 11th, 2012
6:16 pm
GeeDubYa was told about terrorists in the U. W. in Pre 911 Intelligence Briefings
in 2001.
Bush administration was AWARE of possible 911 attack in pre-911 briefings.
Somebody WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION….I WONDER WHO?
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average - He needed to attend the PDB.
September 11th, 2012
6:17 pm
CORRECTION
GeeDubYa was told about terrorists in the U. S. in Pre 911 Intelligence Briefings
Somebody WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION….I WONDER WHO?
College Transcripts of George W. Bush Show C Average - He needed to attend the PDB.
September 11th, 2012
6:21 pm
When it comes to intelligence briefings, Obama isn’t even voting ‘present’.
GeeDubYa was told about terrorists in the U. S. in Pre 911 Intelligence Briefings
Somebody voted PRESENT AND WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION….
I WONDER WHO?
George W. Bush that’s who.
McCain knocks Obama on skipping intelligence briefings – The Hill (blog)
September 11th, 2012
10:05 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
No Record Of Intel Briefings For Obama Prior To Egypt, Libya Embassy Attacks
September 12th, 2012
4:49 pm
[...] Secretary Leon Panetta and/or other intelligence officials, he always reads intel reports daily. However, a report in the Atlanta Constitution Journal points out that the face to face meetings are important so the President can ask questions of his [...]
wow
September 12th, 2012
7:23 pm
wow
wow
September 12th, 2012
7:24 pm
the little penis repubs like KYLE must be having an orgasm today…lol