President Obama’s comments to a Denver TV station that he is “proud generally” of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is angering his conservative critics who were already riled by his apology over the accidental burning of Quorans by troops.
“Generally proud of our troops? What a loser,” said nationally syndicated radio host Michael Brown, the former Bush-era FEMA boss. “I am generally disgusted by this man.”
Katie Pavlich, the news editor of the conservative website Townhall, added, “The calculated shooting of innocent civilians is nothing to be proud of, however, President Obama’s generalization of the U.S. military as a whole because of this isolated incident is disturbing.”
While making a round of TV interviews to address rising gas prices Monday, Obama was asked by Denver’s KCNC about the weekend massacre of 16 Afghans by one soldier. The Associated Press wrote it up this way: “President Barack Obama is calling the alleged slaying of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier ‘absolutely tragic and heartbreaking’ and that he is still ‘proud generally’ of what U.S. troops have achieved in Afghanistan while working under ‘enormous strain.'”
Officials said he wasn’t dissing the troops with the comment. In fact, he leads into the comment by talking about the hundreds of thousands of troops working under substantial strain, ending, “You can’t help but be proud generally.”
But the Twitter universe lit up when his comments were posted, with many critics suggesting that the president was rapping the troops after the killings.
