So now there is a war on terrorism

Oh, so now there is a war on terrorism.

Now that the election is over, the war on terror suddenly is spreading again. The timing is enough to make a cynic blush.

After insisting repeatedly during the campaign that “the tide of war is receding,” President Obama plans to expand military operations against Al Qaeda offshoots throughout Africa, The Wall Street Journal reports. It named Mali, Nigeria, Libya and other countries as targets for stepped-up activities, which could include both troops and drones. A top military official told the paper the terror groups were “significant threats to the United States.”

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That would seem to be an understatement given the debacle in Libya, where our ambassador and three other Americans were killed in a terror attack on the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Although envoy Chris Stevens feared for his life and requested extra security, he was turned down because the White House wanted to keep a small, inoffensive footprint.

The new tone and a likely request for expanded congressional authorization reflect a more realistic approach to the global menace. A unilateral retreat by the United States, with drones used to disguise our withdrawal, emboldened the Islamists and left many allies feeling abandoned.

The aggressive posture already is apparent in the Mideast, with American troops said to be part of a NATO contingent in Turkey, along the Syrian border. For 20 months, the administration did almost nothing about the massacre in Syria, and now suddenly, after the election, we have troops in harm’s way.

Imagine for a second that Mitt Romney had advocated these measures during the campaign, and how Obama would have scorched him for it. Now you know why so many people don’t trust Obama, even when he does the right thing.

To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column in the New York Post on other topics including Bradley Manning, click here.