Generally, as regards foreign policy, I think that Obama is pretty much doing the right thing. It is so unfortunate that he feels the need to heap all of this opprobrium on Bush for pursuing exactly the same policies that he himself is now, thankfully, pursuing. I’m glad that Obama is repackaging the Bush policies in shinier wrapping. George W. Bush was never very good at packaging.
Obama is now continuing the Bush administration policies with regard to military tribunals, indefinite detaining of unlawful combatants, rendition, and FISA surveillance of international calls. He has also ordered a study into possible enhanced interrogation techniques that go beyond the Army Field Manual.
If there is some way in which he is departing from the Bush policies on the war on terror, I am not aware of it. The changes in the military commissions are obviously phony. He has banned waterboarding. Oh wait, no, Bush did that. He has promised to close Guantanamo, which would not only be stupid, but I don’t think he will really do it, and if he does do it, he will simply have to recreate it in a different, less suitable, geographical place.
I applaud the reversals of his campaign positions. I just wish he wouldn’t deem it necessary to continue with the lying and the Bush bashing. I will give the President the last word. Here are a few excerpts from his speech that exhibit his serial dissembling and finger pointing:
“But I also believe that – too often – our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us – Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens – fell silent.”
“…the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable – a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass.”
“There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America’s strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law.”
“…the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.”
“We are cleaning up something that is – quite simply – a mess; a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my Administration is forced to deal with on a constant basis, and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country.”
“…we are acutely aware that under the last Administration, detainees were released only to return to the battlefield. That is why we are doing away with the poorly planned, haphazard approach that let those detainees go in the past.”
“Instead of using the flawed Commissions of the last seven years, my Administration is bringing our Commissions in line with the rule of law.”
“In all of the areas that I have discussed today, the policies that I have proposed represent a new direction from the last eight years. To protect the American people and our values, we have banned enhanced interrogation techniques. We are closing the prison at Guantanamo. We are reforming Military Commissions, and we will pursue a new legal regime to detain terrorists. We are declassifying more information and embracing more oversight of our actions, and narrowing our use of the State Secrets privilege. These are dramatic changes that will put our approach to national security on a surer, safer and more sustainable footing, and their implementation will take time.”
“I understand that it is no secret that there is a tendency in Washington to spend our time pointing fingers at one another. And our media culture feeds the impulses that lead to a good fight. Nothing will contribute more to that than an extended re-litigation of the last eight years. Already, we have seen how that kind of effort only leads those in Washington to different sides laying blame, and can distract us from focusing our time, our effort, and our politics on the challenges of the future.”
“On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: “anything goes.” Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants – provided that it is a President with whom they agree.”
“Make no mistake: if we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past several years, then I will not be able to say that as President. And if we cannot stand for those core values, then we are not keeping faith with the documents that are enshrined in this hall.”
“Every now and then, there are those who think that America’s safety and success requires us to walk away from the sacred principles enshrined in this building.”
Tell Cheney to stop whining first…nyah, nyah, nyah!