all-encompassingly

Tuesday, President Obama said the following regarding the planned addition of 30,000 US troops in Afghanistan:

[W]e are joined by a broad coalition of 43 nations that recognizes the legitimacy of our action.

When I heard that, it struck me as…odd.

After all, we had more than 43 nations* supporting our action in Iraq in 2003, but no Democrat ever called that a “broad” coalition. Almost every Democrat, including Mr. Obama, seemed to sneer at President Bush for acting “unilaterally.”

On the five-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Barack Obama perpetuated the untruth by deriding our efforts in Iraq as “unilateral.” Barack Obama’s site, Organizing for America, reported in March 2008:

Earlier today Barack gave an important speech to mark the five year anniversary of the Iraq war, titled “The World Beyond Iraq.” Barack called for a turn away from the path of “unending war and unilateral action.”

Ok? So, to clarify how this all works out in Crazy World:

A 45-nation coalition is “unilateral” if Bush the Chimp sets it up.

A 43-nation coalition is “broad” if Obama the Messiah organizes it.

Got it?
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* From knowledgerush.com:

The most recent White House count of [nations that have offered various degrees of support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq] numbered 49, although a review of public statements made by the governments themselves finds no more than 45.

Per Wikipedia’s final count, 33 nations provided some military support to the Iraq war effort.

See also: This Google Map of coalition countries.

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more (12/4/09): It appears the Obama administration has also changed its stance on the assertion of executive privilege. This is change you have to see to believe.