Vietnam veteran David Snyder of Metamora, Ohio, watches a live video broadcast of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, at a campaign event with Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, in Swanton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
FACT CHECK: A one-sided story on trade, defense
Vietnam veteran David Snyder of Metamora, Ohio, watches a live video broadcast of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, at a campaign event with Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, in Swanton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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THE FACTS: Risk is always a matter of perception, so it doesn’t fall easily into the realm of truth vs. fiction. But for the United States and the region, it’s not clear that conflict has increased in the last four years. Obama entered office in 2009 with the United States still engaged in a conflict in Iraq. U.S. troops are no longer there. And he came as Israel and Hamas just finished a three-week war. That was two years after another war between Israel and an Iranian-backed force, in that case, Hezbollah in Lebanon.
There has been no significant Israeli military conflict since Obama has come into office. That said, Syria’s conflict has become the region’s deadliest since the Iraq war. The U.S. has stayed out of that conflict under Obama.
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Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.
EDITOR'S NOTE _ An occasional look at political claims that take shortcuts with the facts or don’t tell the full story![]()



