Obama’s Air War: Bombings in Iraq & Syria (2014–2016)

People throw fits over Trump, but stayed quiet when Obama’s Iraq–Syria bombing campaign ran 3 years—long-lasting damage, thousands of strikes, real lives taken. 

What is all the fuss that Trump went into Venezuela with only 20 men and finished the job in a couple of hours and arrested Maduro. 

Let's look at what Obama did?

Total coalition munitions in Iraq+Syria during 2014–2016: 65,731 weapons released. 

Obama did airstrikes against Syria and Iraq. Let's look at the numbers.

• 2014: 6,591

• 2015: 21,116

• 2016: 21,181
  (Total 2014–2016: 48,888)

Could Obama done the same with Syria like Trump did with Venesuela? I believe so. So, why all the loud mouths crying what Trump did? I can tell you why? The leftists are misinformed and want socialism and lose freedom. They been told differently, but they have been lied to.

A few big, documented reasons you saw louder outrage at Trump while a lot of Obama-era bombing (and drone war) drew less sustained mass protest—especially from the left:

Partisanship changes who mobilizes

Research on the U.S. anti-war movement found that activism dropped sharply after Democrats won the White House, even though major war policies continued—basically a “party victory” demobilized the street movement.

 
That doesn’t mean no one criticized Obama; it means fewer people showed up consistently when “their team” was in power.

Obama wasn’t “quiet”—but the backlash looked different

There was public skepticism about Syria strikes under Obama (including among Democrats), but it often showed up as polling opposition and inside-DC debate, not constant viral outrage. For example, Pew found the public was broadly against Syria airstrikes in 2013.

Media environment: Trump coverage was uniquely polarized and constant

Pew’s media study found Trump coverage was shaped heavily by a polarized media ecosystem and audience sorting—meaning stories and reactions amplified faster and harder along partisan lines.

Style, symbolism, and “how it’s done” matters politically

Even when actions overlap (airstrikes, drones, deportations, etc.), people react differently to:

• tone and rhetoric

• how decisions are communicated

• whether it feels chaotic vs. procedural
  That affects how much energy activist networks, donors, and media give an issue.

Transparency and accountability fights were real—but unevenly applied

Obama expanded/normalized parts of the targeted-killing/drone framework; critics argued Congress and much of Washington applied little pressure for reforms.
And investigative reporting tallied large numbers of strikes and civilian-death allegations that fueled criticism—again, often more in reports than in mass protest.

Bottom line

A lot of the “why are they throwing a fit now?” comes down to partisan double standards + a more polarized, high-octane media era under Trump—not because Obama had no critics, but because the volume and visibility of the backlash differed. 

By: Teresa Morin, Truth News