Not too many ETHNIC RUSSIANS in Sweden. What percentage of ETHNIC RUSSIANS do you think justifies a RUSSIAN INVASION?
Obama didn't start any wars in Afghanistan or Iraq (or any of the other countries you mentioned). Bush started wars, and he was justifiably called out for it. He was compared to Hitler, and many people are still demanding his head.
The difference you speak of is that Bush no longer runs the US. Unlike Russia, the US elects their president for limited terms.
a supposed submarine presence in Sweden (one submarine), never fully verified or located, but whipped into a big story by the massively biased western press, does not an aggressive military action make. This is the huge double standard applied to actions by the United States compared to those of other powers by the mainstream western press. Perhaps constant exposure to that coverage has coloured your view of US actions and in particular Obama. In answer to your first question however, heres a quote from The Local (
www.thelocal.se) a swedish news site: " “Russians have a very positive image of Sweden,” says Lioudmila Siegel, referencing Sweden’s connection to the founding of Russia. . . . In addition to the Russian Orthodox Church, which has parishes in five cities around the country, the Ryska riksförbundet serves as an important node for Sweden’s sizeable Russian community as well as a way for them to stay connected with their homeland . . . “Russians live everywhere in Sweden,” says Russian embassy press and cultural attaché Anatoly Kargapolov, adding that most Russians live in the Stockholm region, while about 2,000 live in the south west around Gothenburg. . . . However, the embassy estimates that the Russian-speaking community as a whole is much larger – nearly 90,000 people altogether, including immigrants from the other former Soviet republics, as well as Russian-speaking Swedes." Thankfully some sanity regarding this 'incident' did make it into the western press, although still somewhat out of proportion (see the Washington Post story "No Russia is not going to invade Sweden". Obama is the greatest marketing coup in history - a supposedly 'liberal' African American who has continued the policies of Bush almost without exception, and if you believe what you read in the mainstream press about him, you can be forgiven for thinking he is somehow different from Bush, and not a war criminal. But lets recap his actions since coming into office: The most glaring and undeniable example, is drone strikes. CNN has reported even in 2012 that "Covert drone strikes are one of President Obama's key national security policies. He has already authorized 283 strikes in Pakistan, six times more than the number during President George W. Bush's eight years in office. As a result, the number of estimated deaths from the Obama administration's drone strikes is more than four times what it was during the Bush administration -- somewhere between 1,494 and 2,618. To the extent that the targets of drone attacks can be ascertained, under Bush, al Qaeda members accounted for 25% of all drone targets compared to 40% for Taliban targets. Under Obama, only 8% of targets were al Qaeda compared to just over 50% for Taliban targets. " These drone strikes have been revealed by researchers from Stanford/NYU (on the ground in tribal Pakistan for three months) as terror against whole communities - read the summary report at
www.livingunderdrones.org. Obama has expanded the war in Afghanistan - neo-colonial operation that now appears to be a permanent 'arrangement'. Cost so far to the US taxpayer: $1 trillion dollars. But who do you think is getting rich off it? Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, US corporations. In office since 2008, Obama has continued the Bush policies of Gauntamono prison. Vert rarely - as marketing - he pretends to mull over closing it (one of his many campaign promises that turned out to be utter lies). But in effect little has changed:
http://www.theguardian.com/.../obama-administration... Extraordinary rendition continues, all of Bush's 'anti-terror' laws remain in place. Obama has made statements to the press about needing to 'deal with Iran' and Syria. In fact there was a real chance of action in Syria but there was enough 'push back' and dissent to stop it. The military industrial oligarchy that is the United States government is still well and truly in place, waving its massive military around and not shy about using it.
you seem to think the United States has some sort of functioning democracy because they hold a political theatre event once every four years where wealthy elites throw millions at getting into office. Why do you think the main contenders for 2016 are the wife of an ex-president, and the son and brother of former presidents? No functioning democracy, as has been born out by research:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.../The-US-is-an-oligarchy... The power that runs the United States is not the president, and that is why the policies have remained the same under Obama. Its corporate america, and the military industrial complex that really calls the shots. If Lockheed Martin, the worlds largest weapon manfacturer, really doesn't like a candidate's policies (for instance, maybe less wars), they have many strings they can pull.
