Obama approval soars to 50 percent on jobs figures

Boosted by rising US jobs figures, President Barack Obama's approval rating has hit the magical
50-per cent mark and he has opened up a double-digit lead over his likely Republican opponent in November, a poll showed on Monday. The poll by the Washington Post and ABC television found Obama reaching the 50 percent barrier, seen as a critical threshold for an incumbent seeking reelection, for the first time since Osama bin Laden was killed last May.

USA President Barack Obama

Pollsters said Obama's ascent comes as the US economic recovery appears to be finally taking hold, with voters appearing more confident and comfortable with his policies. The latest US figures released last week found that the unemployment rate has fallen to 8.3 per cent, the fifth straight monthly decline since August, when it was 9.1 per cent.

The US president now holds a solid 11 percentage point lead over the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney, in a hypothetical general election match-up, according to the survey. Obama leads Romney 52 to 43 per cent among all Americans, and a narrower 51 to 45 per cent among registered voters, his first time topping 50 per cent in a head-to-head match-up with Romney since July, the pollsters said. But the president still has substantial work to do: Among the all-important independent voters likely to determine the outcome of the election, 47 per cent approve and 50 per cent disapprove of the way he is handling his job.

His approval numbers are much better than they had been a few months ago however, they had been as low as 34 per cent among swing voters. As the Republican nomination battle grows more bitter and divisive, the public's view of Romney, seen as the clear frontrunner after back-to-back wins in Florida and Nevada, has soured, the poll found. Fifty-five per cent of those who are closely following the campaign said they disapprove of what the Republican candidates have been saying.

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Barack Obama says he deserves another term

Buoyed by the signs of improvement in the American economy, US President Barack Obama has said that he deserves another term.

"I deserve a second term," Obama, who is seeking re-election in the November presidential polls, told NBC news in an interview.

A portion of interview was aired during the Super Bowl on Monday and full interview would be telecast on Tuesday. Obama was responding to a question on his remarks during an interview before the 2009 Super Bowl in which he had said that he will be a one-term president if the economy does not improve by then.

"If I don't have this done in three years, then it's going to be a one-term proposition," he had then said. In his interview, Obama referred to latest figures which reflected there is improvement in the economy.

"We've got to boost up American manufacturing, so that all our manufacturing is building again and selling overseas. We've got to make sure that we're pushing American energy... and we've got to make sure the skills of American workers are the best in the world," Obama said.

"We've made progress, and the thing right now is to just make sure we don't starting turning in a new direction that could throw that progress off," said the US President.

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Barack Obama says he deserves another term

Buoyed by the signs of improvement in the American economy, US President Barack Obama has said that he deserves another term.

"I deserve a second term," Obama, who is seeking re-election in the November presidential polls, told NBC news in an interview.

A portion of interview was aired during the Super Bowl on Monday and full interview would be telecast on Tuesday. Obama was responding to a question on his remarks during an interview before the 2009 Super Bowl in which he had said that he will be a one-term president if the economy does not improve by then.

"If I don't have this done in three years, then it's going to be a one-term proposition," he had then said. In his interview, Obama referred to latest figures which reflected there is improvement in the economy.

"We've got to boost up American manufacturing, so that all our manufacturing is building again and selling overseas. We've got to make sure that we're pushing American energy... and we've got to make sure the skills of American workers are the best in the world," Obama said.

"We've made progress, and the thing right now is to just make sure we don't starting turning in a new direction that could throw that progress off," said the US President.

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Obama Remark on Drone Strikes in Pakistan Stirs Controversy

President Obama's acknowledgment, in a global Internet video chat event Monday, that U.S. drone strike target tribal areas in Pakistan brought some tough questions and cautious responses during a White House news briefing on Tuesday.  One human rights group has urged the administration to clarify legal justifications for the use of drones. 

In Monday's video chat on Google, Mr. Obama responded to a question from a young man in Brooklyn, New York, who noted that the president had ordered more drone attacks in his first year in office than his predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush.

The man then asked how the president believes drone attacks, which he said cause "a lot of civilian casualties," help the United States and whether they are worth it.

Mr. Obama at first remarked about a Monday New York Times report about the use of unarmed drones in Iraq to help ensure security for U.S. diplomats. But then he addressed the general issue of drone strikes and what he called a perception that care is not taken in their execution.

"I want to make sure that people understand that actually, drones have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties," said President Obama. "For the most part, they have been very precise precision strikes against al-Qaida and their affiliates.  And we are very careful in terms of how it has been applied."

But it was the president's response to a follow-up question from another participant in the video chat that has stirred controversy.

Asked whether drone strikes "send a message" that the U.S. is interfering in other countries' affairs, he said "pinpoint" strikes enhance the U.S. ability to respect the sovereignty of countries and limit incursions into their territory. And then he said this:

"Obviously, a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] in going after al-Qaida suspects who are up in very tough terrain in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan," said Obama. "For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the one we are already engaging in."

That was a public acknowledgment of something that had never been confirmed by U.S. officials - the use of drones against militant forces in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Pakistan has publicly condemned drone strikes as a violation of its sovereignty, although they are believed to be carried out with the help of Pakistani intelligence.

After Mr. Obama's remarks, Pakistan called the attacks unlawful, counterproductive and unacceptable, and a spokesman challenged the president's description of advantages they provide.

On Tuesday, Press Secretary Jay Carney carefully avoided comment about secret operations, emphasizing Mr. Obama's assertion that counter-terrorism efforts are targeted, surgical and precise to minimize "unintended casualties and damage."

Carney responded this way when asked if Mr. Obama had purposefully spoken about a covert program.

"He is the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States, he is the president of the United States, I would point you to his comments," said Carney. "I am not going to discuss broadly or specifically supposed covert programs, I would just point you to what he said."

Debate continues about how many people, including civilians, have been killed in drone attacks in Pakistan.  One organization, the Washington-based New America Foundation, says between 1,700 and 2,700 people have died in the past eight years.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International urged the administration to "disclose details of the legal and factual basis for the lethal use of drones in Pakistan" and clarify "the rules of engagement."

This past December, another human rights organization issued a similar call.  In a letter to President Obama, Human Rights Watch urged greater "public accountability" for CIA drone strikes, and it urged the administration to "clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings."

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