# Who killed more terrorists? Bush or Obama? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260 "2014-12-27T02:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/21 "2014-12-27T18:39:00Z")
> [@BOOM](#): > > If you’re defining terrorism by the act, then you also have to take into account means - ISIS doesn’t have helicopters, tanks or drones i.e. the sophisticated means of other terror organisations. > [April 2003 journalist killings by the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_8,_2003_journalist_deaths_by_U.S._fire) It wouldn’t surprise me if the US had used what would unquestionably be called terror tactics at some time in the past. If you think you have linked to an act of terror, quote the part that proves it or lay out your case. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/22 "2014-12-27T19:06:35Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > If you think you have linked to an act of terror, quote the part that proves it or lay out your case. Actually, I’m just looking for the numbers; not a debate on tactics. The Bush administration killed [How many?] terrorists. The Obama administration has killed [How many?] terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/23 "2014-12-27T19:19:44Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Before anyone can start answering this you need to create a meaningful definition of “terrorist”. “Terrorist is what the big army calls the little army” is what it boils down to. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/24 "2014-12-27T19:30:53Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Actually, I’m just looking for the numbers; not a debate on tactics. > > The Bush administration killed [How many?] terrorists. > > The Obama administration has killed [How many?] terrorists. John’s point was about the definition of terrorist. I agree with him that those involved in the public execution of journalists are good candidates. Also, not every terrorist actively commits acts of terror. Those who support terror, those who are in training to commit terrorist acts, the bomb makers, the trainers, all should count. One more point - maybe we should also consider the problem of creating terrorists by attacking those who were apathetic before. Killing 500 terrorists is better than killing a thousand while creating 2,000. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/25 "2014-12-27T19:43:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The deliberate use of violence against civilians as a means to accomplish political goals is terrorism. By your definition, American drone attacks would be terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/26 "2014-12-27T20:02:17Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > By your definition, American drone attacks would be terrorism. I don’t think so, but if you prefer, we could could amend that to say the violence needs to “specifically single out civilians as targets because they are civilians”. That is to say: targeting a school because it is a school as opposed to because it is being used as a base to launch attacks. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/27 "2014-12-27T20:20:42Z")
You really don’t look like you make this up as you go along. I didn’t know people still propagated that school line so long after timed firings became commonplace #welcometothe90s ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/28 "2014-12-27T20:36:19Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > John’s point was about the definition of terrorist. I think everyone understands the question I’m asking. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/29 "2014-12-27T21:28:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I think everyone understands the question I’m asking. An yet no one has answered it. 😉 To be honest, I’m not sure how one would even go about answering it. I suspect this thread will get moved to GD or IMHO at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/30 "2014-12-27T22:28:02Z")
Trying to rope this somehow back to GQ, Wikipedia refers to estimate that between 2003 and 2009, about 26,000 insurgents were killed in Iraq by coalition forces. The article also accounts estimates of roughly 1,500 insurgents killed from 2009 to be withdrawal of US forces. So, by those notoriously unreliable numbers, Bush has got Obama beat by a huge margin. I’ve never seen anything that approaches that kind of detail for Afghanistan. I’ve seen estimates that 30,000 Taliban have been killed since 2001, but no further details. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rate of Taliban deaths have escalated over the years, but I can’t find hard numbers for that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/31 "2014-12-28T00:37:55Z")
That’s the problem-- sorting out “terrorists” from “insurgents”. I don’t see how we can hope to do that, especially in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/32 "2014-12-28T01:17:32Z")
I don’t think the OP is trying to nail down specific numbers in insurgents, unprivileged combatants, illegal combatants, guerrillas, terrorists, civilian-killing freedom fighters, homicide bombers, suicide bombers, or miscellaneous non-uniformed bad guys. Though if anyone hs those statistucs… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/33 "2014-12-28T01:34:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I don’t think the OP is trying to nail down specific numbers in insurgents, unprivileged combatants, illegal combatants, guerrillas, terrorists, civilian-killing freedom fighters, homicide bombers, suicide bombers, or miscellaneous non-uniformed bad guys. That is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/34 "2014-12-28T01:51:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Got a cite for that? By that I mean Osama Bin Laden, no need for a cite in regards to him being the most wanted terror suspect by the United States, or in the world. Especially since September 2001, and he was wanted prior in connection to the Embassy Bombings in Africa in 1998. So under Bill Clinton also; no other person was more sought out than Bin Laden. He was captured and killed under Obama’s watch. So the most wanted terrorist was killed under Obama. As for the number of terrorists, hard to say. Let’s say 50 people were killed in a drone strike in Pakistan or Yemen, how many were known, proven terrorists and how many are innocent people? Hard to tell, have terrorists been killed under both men yes, but hard to say and quantify exactly who killed more. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260/35 "2014-12-28T15:50:27Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > By that I mean Osama Bin Laden, no need for a cite in regards to him being the most wanted terror suspect by the United States, or in the world. Especially since September 2001, and he was wanted prior in connection to the Embassy Bombings in Africa in 1998. So under Bill Clinton also; no other person was more sought out than Bin Laden. He was captured and killed under Obama’s watch. > So the most wanted terrorist was killed under Obama. You wrote “more prominent terrorists” (plural) not “the most prominent terrorist”. That was the cite I was looking for. “More prominent terrorists”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-killed-more-terrorists-bush-or-obama/708260.md?page=1)