As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, former President Barack Obama finally chose to break his silence on the hostilities. In a post on social media, he affirmed his support for Israel, condemned the killing of innocent civilians, and called for a lasting peace in the region.

While some might appreciate Obama’s sentiments, perhaps he is not the best vessel for a message about the evils of killing civilians given his drone record and financial support of Iran.

On Monday, the former president wrote:

All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians. We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it dismantles Hamas. As we support Israel’s right to defend itself against terror, we must keep striving for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

All Americans should be horrified and outraged by the brazen terrorist attacks on Israel and the slaughter of innocent civilians. We grieve for those who died, pray for the safe return of those who’ve been held hostage, and stand squarely alongside our ally, Israel, as it…

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 9, 2023

Perhaps Obama figured people don’t remember what happened under his administration because if they did, he might have decided it would be best for him to sit this one out.

Let’s hop into the Wayback Machine and travel back to a time when Obama was still president. Remember when he sent $1.7 billion to Iran? Sure, you do. A Treasury spokeswoman justified the act by arguing that the payments were necessary because of the “effectiveness of U.S. and international sanctions” on the Iranian regime, which has been labeled as the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism.

Today, we see that Iran helped Hamas plan and execute the most devastating onslaught Israel has experienced over the past five decades. Is it not possible that Obama’s monetary gift, along with the $6 billion the Biden administration graciously provided for the Iranian regime, might have actually enabled the government to support Hamas’ offensive against Israel?

But that’s not all.

What Obama said about killing civilians might have gone over better if he hadn’t been responsible for untold numbers of civilian victims of America’s drone program that was ostensibly designed to target terrorists.

Less than two weeks ago, the United States conducted a drone strike over central Yemen, killing one al-Qaeda operative. The strike was the last under Obama (that we know of). The 542 drone strikes that Obama authorized killed an estimated 3,797 people, including 324 civilians. As he reportedly told senior aides in 2011: “Turns out I’m really good at killing people. Didn’t know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine.”

Of course, it is worth noting that these are only official numbers – we don’t actually know how many innocent men, women, and children Obama killed through drone strikes in the name of fighting the War on Terror.

To make matters worse, the apparent gravity of the killing of so many people didn’t seem to faze the former president. He offered a rather weak excuse when asked about the matter in 2016:

“The truth is that this technology really began to take off right at the beginning of my presidency,” he began. “And it wasn’t until about a year, year and a half in where I began to realize that the Pentagon and our national-security apparatus and the CIA were all getting too comfortable with the technology as a tool to fight terrorism, and not being mindful enough about how that technology is being used and the dangers of a form of warfare that is so detached from what is actually happening on the ground. And so we initiated this big process to try to get it in a box, and checks and balances, and much higher standards about when they’re used.”

Obama’s words fall flat when you consider his foreign policy. In the quest for peace in the Middle East, every action and decision carries profound consequences for those it affects. This is why the former president’s sentiments present a tragic irony: A man responsible for innocent civilian deaths is condemning the taking of innocent life in another country.